JMicron Technology will adopt Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 55nm process for the production of its JMF667 controller ICs for SATA 6G/s SSDs, becoming the first Taiwan-based IC design house to use TSMC's 55nm technology to make such controllers, according to industry sources.

JMicron expects to launch JMF667 in September-October 2012, the sources noted. In addition to JMicron, Taiwan-based Phison Electronics has utilized United Microelectronics Corporation's (UMC) 55nm process to produce SATA 6G/s SSD controller ICs and US-based LSI will use TSMC's 55nm process to make such controller ICs, the sources indicated.

JMF667 uses in-house-developed PHY IP which supports NAND flash chips produced by Toshiba and Micron/Intel as well as mSATA, mSATA mini and NGFF (next-generation form factor) specifications, the sources said. In addition, JMF667 supports Device Sleep power management mode.

JMicron will shift from TSMC's 0.13-micron process to 85nm to produce its JMS569, USB 3.0 to SATA 6G/s bridge controller ICs in September.