Silicon Clocks raises $8M more for chip timing
Silicon Clocks is a fabless semiconductor company focused on integrating timing devices directly onto processor chips.
Current quartz-based technology, which is several decades old, requires a separate processor piece and is somewhat limited in its abilities. Silicon Clocks claims it can reduce the size and cost of chips by building a silicon-germanium micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) directly onto a chip.
The $8 million round is a second tranche, bringing the company’s total first funding to $19 million. Investors include Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures, Tallwood Venture Capital and new investor Lux Capital.
For the technically obsessed, here’s a more in-depth blurb from the company’s webpage:
As a back-end-of-line process, the Silicon Clocks SiGe MEMS technology enables true vertical stacked integration (i.e., resonators directly above transistors), which allows for scalable integration of multiple resonators. It also delivers a significant reduction in parasitics, hence an increase in the level of performance that is unmatched by two-chip solutions, including quartz-based approaches. In addition to cost advantages, the Silicon Clocks technology maintains the design flexibility advantage of two-chip solutions – so designers can match products and applications with the most appropriate technology – while also providing sensible improvement in overall yield and reliability.
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About the Author, Chris Morrison
Chris Morrison writes about cleantech and environmental issues for VentureBeat, with occasional forays into gaming and semantic technology. He got his start writing about tech for Business 2.0 magazine, but quickly realized new media was the ticket when that institution closed its doors in 2007. Chris has also covered public equities and regulatory issues. He originally hails from southern Virginia, graduated from Evergreen State College in Washington, and now lives in San Francisco.