ZMD
Encyclopedia
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
manufacturer based in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. In the 1980s, ZMD was regarded as the heart of the GDR-microelectronics
Microelectronics
Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture of very small electronic components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-scale or smaller,. These devices are made from semiconductors...
research. ZMD was founded in 1961. In 1969 (the year AMD
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets...
was founded) the company operated under the name Arbeitsstelle für Molekularelektronik Dresden. ZMD produced the GDR's first 1-megabyte DRAM
Dram
Dram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:...
U61000
U61000
U61000 was the first 1-mbit DRAM microchip produced by the German Democratic Republic in 1989 based on CMOS technology.* DRAM organisation: 1024k x 1 Bit* access time: 100 ns - 120 ns...
in 1988. However, serial production was not achieved by 1990. ZMD GmbH (the predecessor of the current corporation) was founded in 1993 and in December 2001 the company became an "AG
Aktiengesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e. owned by shareholders, and may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
".
Since May 2009, ZMD AG uses the logo „ZMDI“, the company name still is “Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden”.
Today, the company has about 250 employees, of which around 100 are engineers working mainly in product development. ZMDI innovations are used in automotive and industrial electronics, medical technology and for infrared interfaces (IrDA
IRDA
IRDA may refer to:* Infrared Data Association, in information and communications technology , a standard for communication between devices over short distances using infrared signals...
), for example in mobile phones and laptops. The company has successfully specialised in the design, production and marketing of heavy duty, mixed analogue-digital, application-specific circuits (ASICs
ASICS
ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...
) and application specific standard products (ASSPs) with low energy consumption. As a result, ZMDI has accelerated the development of the most modern mixed-signal systems on chip (SoC
SOC
SOC or SoC may refer to:Social Networking / Entertainment* Soc.TV, an internet based, social television network* Soldier of ChristBusiness* Sirte Oil Company* South Oil CompanyScience and technology...
). The main focus of these developments is applications for the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
sector: ZMD has maintained a leading position in this area for several years, now and aims to be market leader for automotive sensor systems on chip for “x by wire" applications.
The company's headquarters are in Dresden, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. ZMDI runs sales operations in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with offices in Melville, New York
Melville, New York
Melville is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, 14,533 people resided there.-Location:...
, in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and Dresden, Germany. It has Design Centres in the USA in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
and also in Dresden, Stuttgart and Varna, Bulgaria.
ZFOUNDRY
ZFOUNDRY, a 100% subsidiary company, manufactured ZMD AG’s products and was responsible for all necessary subcontract servicesSubcontractor
A subcontractor is an individual or in many cases a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract....
, such as assembly and test. Its production capacity was also offered worldwide for analog, mixed-signal and power management.
ZFOUNDRY was sold to X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG in March 2007.
Silicon Saxony
ZMDI is said to be the cradle of the SaxonSaxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
microelectronics industry and is a founder of the largest European semiconductors cluster, “Silicon Saxony
Silicon Saxony
Silicon Saxony is a registered industry association of nearly 300 companies in the microelectronics and related sectors in Saxony, Germany, with around 40,000 employees...
”, which was founded in 2000.
ZMDI's CEO and President is Thilo von Selchow.
External links
- http://www.zmdi.com/
- http://www.zfoundry.com/
- http://www.1stsilicon.com/
- http://www.silicon-saxony.net/