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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