Analog

We live in an increasingly digital world where information is processed by central processing units (CPU) and graphics processing units (GPU). However, to make things digital, we need to first convert them from the “real world”— which is analog. This is where analog chips come in. End markets for analog chips are diverse, ranging from automotive and communications to industrial automation and smart buildings.

Analog chips are used in a wide variety of applications, including analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, RF transceiver circuits including low noise amplifiers (LNAs), and filters. Think modems, smartphone applications and WiFi routers. Their performance usually determines the performance of the system in which they are placed.

The analog market is fragmented, with hundreds of thousands of different parts used by hundreds of thousands of customers in countless applications. It is a market that will continue to expand and provide opportunities for innovation in materials engineering from Applied Materials.

Enabling the continued quest for faster and superior analog ICs are multiple products from Applied Materials. In addition to the industry’s broadest product portfolio including epitaxy,  etch and metals deposition, the Applied Materials portfolio includes specialized tools for high-precision analog technologies such as SiChrome (SiCr) thin film resistors and 3D MIM capacitors.