Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced that UMC licensed Cypress's SONOS (Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) embedded Flash memory intellectual property (IP) for the 40-nanometer process technology node. Cypress's SONOS delivers an easy-to-integrate nonvolatile memory cell with unmatched scalability for future development.

The technology will primarily be used in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, wearables, microcontrollers and logic-dominated products. This marks the third SONOS technology collaboration in the last three years between the two companies. UMC licensed Cypress's 55-nm SONOS process technology in 2014 and qualified Cypress's 65-nm technology in 2013.

Cypress's 40-nm SONOS embedded nonvolatile memory (NVM) process provides significant advantages over other embedded NVM offerings. SONOS requires fewer additional mask layers to insert it into a standard CMOS process, specifically, five additional masks at the 40-nm node compared with a minimum of twelve additional masks needed for other embedded Flash technologies. In addition, SONOS does not alter standard device characteristics or models when added to baseline CMOS processes, preserving existing design IP.

SONOS delivers intrinsically high yields and reliability, 10 years of data retention, 100,000 program/erase endurance cycles, and robust resistance to soft errors. Cypress and UMC have demonstrated the ability to scale SONOS to smaller nodes, expediting future IP development.