In a technology collaboration aimed at getting microcontroller technology to the 40nm embedded flash stage a deal has been struck by Renesas and Taiwanese fab TSMC

The deal comes after Renesas had previously agreed to outsource MCUs to TSMC using 90nm eFlash process technology. Now under this latest 40nm MCU collaboration Renesas will outsource MCU production at 40nm and future technologies.

The idea is for the two companies to lead in advanced technologies for MCU platform and production by combining Renesas’ MONOS (Metal-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon) technology supporting both high reliability and high speed, and high-quality technical support with TSMC’s advanced CMOS process technologies and flexible production capacity.

Furthermore, by making the MONOS process platform available to other semiconductor suppliers around the world (including fabless companies and IDMs), Renesas and TSMC aim to set up an ecosystem and further widen the customer base.

At 40nm process, MCU products could achieve higher speed, lower power consumption and more than 50 percent smaller die size compared to the current 90nm node. These features are particularly crucial for integrated MCU designs, where logic, memory, and all other system components are squeezed into a very small area.