Empower's new silicon capacitor

With a capacitance of 16.6 microfarads (μF), this single device addresses the rigorous power integrity requirements commonly encountered in high-performance system-on-chip (SoC) designs. Boasting ultra-low impedance up to 1GHz, and a slim profile suitable for integration into the substrate or interposer of any SoC, the EC1005P caters to the demands of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

“The performance of SoCs and other large computing processors are constantly increasing,” said Mukund Krishna, Senior Manager of Product Marketing, Empower Semiconductor. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to reach the level of power integrity and voltage regulation that these devices require with conventional MLCCs. The EC1005P features close-to-ideal parasitic parameters, allowing these SoCs to operate with reduced voltage margining and ultimately reducing system power.”

Leveraging Empower's advanced silicon capacitor technology, the EC1005P bridges the 'last inch' decoupling gap between voltage regulators and SoC supply pins. This monolithic device replaces multiple discrete components, offering superior electrical performance and simplifying engineering complexities.

Featuring ultra-low sub-1-picohenry (pH) equivalent series inductance (ESL) and sub-3-milliohm (mΩ) equivalent series resistance (ESR), the EC1005P is housed in a compact 3.643 x 3.036-millimeter 120-pad chip-scale package (CSP). The device, with a standard profile of 784 microns, can be tailored to meet various height requirements. Empower’s silicon capacitors deliver exceptional stability across voltage and temperature ranges and are immune to derating or aging, unlike traditional multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs).

The EC1005P ECAP is currently available for sampling and is slated for volume production in Q4 2024.