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Seoul, South KoreaJune 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SK keyfoundry, an 8-inch pure-play foundry in South Korea, announced that it has recently developed “On-Chip EMC Protection Technology Based on Bi-directional SCR (Bi-SCR),” which significantly enhances the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance of automotive semiconductors. The company stated that this technology has been successfully applied to its 0.13-micron BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process products and has entered mass production.
As the integration of electronic components in vehicles rapidly increases, ensuring that semiconductors operate normally without failure even under extreme electrical stress conditions has become a core challenge. Traditional ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) protection devices are primarily limited to controlling instantaneous discharges during chip manufacturing or assembly processes. This newly developed technology is a design solution that can fully control stringent system-level EMC environments within the chip, including scenarios that generate continuous electrical stress during vehicle operation, as required by automotive standards such as ISO 10605.
The “Bi-directional SCR (Silicon-Controlled Rectifier)” structure implemented by SK keyfoundry features flexible trigger voltage adjustability and excellent high-current handling capability. Notably, this structure offers high area efficiency, excelling in optimizing the protection capabilities of automotive power ICs (Integrated Circuits), which face severe space constraints and require high integration. Most significantly, as an “On-Chip” solution, it is highly meaningful as it can effectively control EMC stress within the chip, eliminating the need for external protection components such as TVS (Transient Voltage Suppression) diodes, which were essential in previous system designs. As a result, customers can maximize circuit design and space efficiency while elevating system protection performance to the highest level.
This achievement is seen as a combination of SK keyfoundry’s unique automotive BCD process technology accumulated over many years with its advanced EMC and ESD protection design capabilities. Using this successful mass production as a springboard, the company plans to continuously expand its product line of protection devices based on high-voltage LDMOS (Laterally Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor), BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor), SCR, and diodes. Additionally, SK keyfoundry intends to strengthen its market competitiveness in various high-reliability automotive applications, such as automotive PMICs (Power Management ICs), motor drivers, and power control ICs.
Derek D. Lee, CEO of SK keyfoundry, stated: “In the recent automotive semiconductor market, going beyond simple device-level ESD performance, ‘EMC robustness’ in actual harsh automotive electronic system environments is emerging as a new core competitive advantage. The successful mass production and application of this on-chip EMC protection technology based on Bi-directional SCR is a significant technological milestone, elevating the reliability and system stability of automotive semiconductor products to a new level.” He added, “We will continue to strengthen the high-reliability, high-voltage, and high-efficiency process platforms required by automotive customers, solidifying our differentiated foundry competitiveness.”