SEMICONDUCTOR
UPDATE
December 2006
McIlvaine Company
Elpida to Build Mammoth DRAM Fab in Taiwan
Elpida Memory, Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor will link up to build a DRAM fab in Taiwan. The decision could involve a long-term commitment of $7 billion.
Elpida has spent at least several months looking for a site for a 300-mm wafer fab and Taiwan proved attractive, in part because of a compelling combination of tax breaks and an advanced semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure.
Elpida plans to invest 800 billion yen (about $7 billion) in the project, which will eventually yield a monthly capacity of 100,000-150,000 wafers. If Powerchip agrees to be a joint venture partner, the scale of the fab would double, rivaling the current capacity of Samsung Electronics.
Grenoble, STMicroelectronics to Expand
Grenoble, STMicroelectronics, one of the world’s largest semiconductor suppliers, announced that it has expanded its Grenoble-based Innovation and Systems Integration Center (CIIS), which is dedicated to System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions.
Located in the heart of the Polygone Scientifique, the Grenoble scientific cluster, CIIS will offer two new facilities covering a total area of 13,000m². This comes on top of the existing 32,000m² of offices, 8,000m² of clean rooms and labs and 1,800m² of test facilities. Designed to accommodate 600 employees, this extension confirms ST’s ongoing commitment to the Grenoble community ever since it first established a presence there in the early 1970s. Today, ST’s Grenoble site is recognized throughout the world as Europe’s foremost integrated circuit (IC) design facility.
One of the main drivers in the region’s microelectronics industry, the site currently employs over 2,300 people, 80% of whom are engineers and managers. At least, 25 different nationalities are represented among multi-disciplinary teams renowned for their world-class expertise. The CIIS is constantly designing new complex ICs dedicated to specific applications such as cellular phones, data networks, computers, digital cameras, HDTV and multimedia. They are designed in state-of-the-art CMOS 90nm or 65nm technologies, developed at ST’s Crolles facility and produced on 300mm wafers.
Elpida and Powerchip Establish a New Joint Venture
Elpida Memory, Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. will establish a new joint venture company to operate DRAM fabrication facilities in Central Taiwan Science Park with a total planned capacity of 240,000 12" wafers per month, making this site the largest concentration of 12" DRAM fabrication facilities in the world. Both parties have also agreed to jointly develop a part of next generation process technology.
Both parties initially will jointly invest 40 Billion NTD to establish the new venture, where the new venture will then obtain PSC's current 12" fabrication facility in Taichung Houli Science Park, which is currently under construction. In addition to PSC investing capital PSC will also allocate human resources for a part of Elpida's next generation DRAM process technology development, thus allowing both parties to enjoy the benefits of joint development.
Currently the first fab under construction will have a capacity of 60,000 12-inch wafers per month, where the cleanroom is now being installed. In 2007 equipment will be installed and before 2008 Elpida’s 70nm process technology will reach 30,000 12-inch wafers per month according to the company.
Elpida and PSC's Taiwan Joint Venture in Central Taiwan Science Park will act as DRAM manufacturing base of operations, which will eventually become four 12" DRAM fabrication facilities with a combined capacity of 240,000 wafers per month. Currently the first fab under construction will have a capacity of 60,000 12" wafers per month where the clean room is now being installed. In Q2 of 2007, equipment will be installed and in Q3 mass production will begin on Elpida's 70nm process technology where the first stage capacity will reach 30,000 12" wafers per month. Basically this capacity will be split equally between the two largest shareholders. As a result of Elpida and PSC's investment of capital, technology, and human resources the newly formed joint venture will rapidly have mass production economies of scale, technology and will establish Elpida and PSC as major players in the worldwide DRAM industry.
India Will Become A Force In Semiconductors By 2010
A new report says that an acceleration in electronics manufacturing and growing semiconductor consumption is setting India up to be a major player in that market.
India is poised to become a major player in the semiconductor industry, according to a new report. The country's growing semiconductor consumption and an acceleration in electronics manufacturing there will make India a force to be reckoned with in just three years time.
India also is one of the fastest growing semiconductor-consuming markets in the world. Analysts say the swift rise of the country's middle class is driving that market at "an astounding pace.” Indian semiconductor market was valued at $1.18 billion in 2005 and they forecast that to nearly double by 2010, hitting $3.09 billion.
Tokyo University, Taiwan Firms Finish Work on 512-core Chip
The University of Tokyo recently finished up work on a 512 core chip in collaboration with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Alchip Technologies, a fabless ASIC company also from Taiwan.
The chip, called Sing, is part of the larger Grape DR project to create the next-generation of supercomputers, capable of 2,000 trillion transactions per second. The chip itself is designed as a math co-processor capable of 51.2 crore floating point operations per second running at a cool 500MHz. Its divide and conquer architecture keeps power down to about 60W.
The State-of-the-Art Facility for Chipmakers
Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies, a leader and innovator in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) technology for the global semiconductor industry opened its Asia-Pacific Manufacturing and Technical Center in Taiwan.
Representing a $50 million investment, this center is CMP Technologies' first CMP pad manufacturing site and technical center in Asia outside of Japan and will play a pivotal role in supporting regional customer growth.
The site is located in the Hsinchu Science Park, Chunan satellite campus, a center of advanced 300mm manufacturing for the global semiconductor industry. By placing the CMP Technologies Asia-Pacific Manufacturing and Technical Center here, the company will be close to local foundries, integrated device manufacturers, and memory device manufacturers, as well as having a central location to provide timely service to its customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region. This central location in the Hsinchu Science Park will also provide room for future expansion, as the industry continues to thrive and grow across the region.
CMP Technologies' Asia-Pacific Manufacturing and Technical Center will serve as the production site for the company's next-generation IC1000™ polishing pads, the new IC1000™ AT pad, and the VisionPad™ family of products. This facility will provide increased pad manufacturing capacity to address the growing demands in the region. In addition to manufacturing, the 23,000-square-meter site will also house a sophisticated applications lab as well as sales and customer support offices. The applications lab will include a 300- to 500-square-meter class 10 cleanroom equipped for CMP polishing, cleaning and metrology, as well as standard analytical equipment for pad and slurry analysis. This will provide CMP Technologies with the capability to do customer demonstrations and support new product implementation locally and regionally. This region could have as many as 25 or more 300mm fabs by the end of 2008.
The manufacturing and technical center will employ engineers, management and customer support staff, as well as operators and technical staff. Daniel Fang, Asia technology director for Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies, will oversee the technical center, while Cliff Chen will serve as manager for the manufacturing plant. By 2010 the entire facility will house approximately 150 to 160 people, with manufacturing and laboratory personnel trained at Rohm and Haas facilities in the United States.
Littlefuse to Move Semiconductor Manufacturing to China
Littelfuse Inc. plans to transfer its semiconductor wafer manufacturing from Irving, TX, to Wuxi, China in a phased transition over the next three to four years. Upon completion of the transfer, the 101,000-square-foot Irving facility at 1800 Hurd Drive will be closed. Littelfuse's lease on the facility runs through Dec. 15, 2014.
Intel May Cancel India Manufacturing Plans
Intel Corp. may abandon plans to build an assembly and testing plant in India if the federal government doesn't announce its semiconductor policy by March 2007. The semiconductor policy is supposed to detail the incentives and facilities the Indian government will give to large chip makers planning to build production plants in India.
AMD, Hynix to Break into Top 10 Semicon Suppliers
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. will finally break into the top 10 semiconductor suppliers this year, according to a preliminary ranking.
AMD's semiconductor revenue is expected to increase by 90 per cent in 2006, which will cause the its ranking to jump eight places to seventh place, the market research firm said. Meanwhile, Hynix is projected to achieve a 32.5 per cent increase in revenue and move up three places to the No. 8 position.
The strong performance of the two companies comes amid renewed strength in worldwide semiconductor sales for the year, semiconductor sales in 2006 projects revenue of Rs.1,176,692 crore ($258.5 billion), up nine per cent from Rs.1,080,189.60 crore ($237.3 billion) in 2005. Memory chip vendor Hynix is projected to achieve 2006 semiconductor revenue of Rs.33,684.80 crore ($7.4 billion), up Rs.8,193.60 crore ($1.8 billion) from Rs.25,491.20 crore ($5.6 billion) in 2005, driven by surging sales of its lines of DRAM and NAND-type flash memory, iSuppli said. The firm projects Hynix's DRAM revenue will grow by Rs.5,007.20 crore ($1.1 billion) in 2006 and its NAND flash revenue will rise by Rs.3,505.04 ($770 million).
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's leading supplier of memory chips, is expected to see its memory revenue increase by a smaller amount in 2006, Rs.8,057.04 crore ($1.77 billion), iSuppli said.
Texas Instruments DMOS6 Manufacturing Facility Named "Top Fab of the Year"
Texas Instruments announced that its DMOS6 manufacturing facility has been named "Top Fab of the Year" by Semiconductor International magazine. The award from the magazine's editors recognizes top-of-the-line semiconductor fabrication facilities on criteria including sophistication of manufacturing capabilities; ability to implement new manufacturing technologies; high environmental, health and safety standards; ability to handle a wide variety of products; and ability to address demanding customer schedules and needs.
"TI's DMOS6 is the company's flagship facility, and exemplifies the state-of-the-art in global semiconductor manufacturing," noted Pete Singer, editor-in-chief of Semiconductor International. "We were particularly impressed with how the fab has enabled the development of 45-nanometer immersion technology while still running production volumes on 130-, 90- and 65-nm products."
Located in Dallas, TI's DMOS6 facility is the company's most advanced production facility, with more than 190,000 square feet of clean room space. In 2002, DMOS6 became one of the first 300-millimeter facilities in the world to enter customer-qualified production on 130-nm copper wafers. Today, the company produces 16,000 wafers per month across multiple process generations, including its advanced 130-, 90- and 65-nm CMOS technologies, and 45-nm development wafers. As demand for advanced products continues, DMOS6 is capable of producing up to 22,000 wafers per month
Chartered's Fab 7 Earns Top Fab Honors from Magazine
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, one of the world's top dedicated foundries, announced that Semiconductor International magazine has honored its Fab 7 as one of the two facilities selected as "Top Fab" for 2006. It is the third time Chartered has earned the distinction from Semiconductor International, and the second time in three years, following its 2004 award for Fab 6. Chartered's Fab 2 won a similar award in 1997.
Each year, Semiconductor International, the leading technical publication covering the global semiconductor industry, recognizes an outstanding fab or fabs based on a number of criteria, including: highly sophisticated manufacturing capabilities; ability to implement new manufacturing technologies; ability to quickly ramp up a new process or product to full-flow production; high environmental, health and safety standards; ability to handle a wide variety of product types; and ability to handle demanding customer schedules and needs.
Chartered's Fab 7, which is the company's first 300mm wafer facility, won high marks in all categories, and the judges specifically cited the fast ramp-up times with which Chartered is able to bring up new leading-edge processes in the fab. Chartered has been able to reduce ramp-up times for new processes from 10 quarters to two quarters thanks to its investment in leading-edge equipment and processes.
The 775,000 square-foot facility will be capable of producing up to 30,000 wafers per month when it is fully facilitized. It currently manufactures 65-nanometer (nm), 90nm, 0.11-micron and 0.13-micron technologies, and is designed to scale to 45nm and beyond. Fab 7 benefits from comprehensive and leading-edge yield management and defect detections systems, allowing it to produce wafers efficiently and predictably. Investments in advancements such as 193nm photolithography tools for resolution enhancement, and optical proximity correction (OPC) and phase-shifting masks (PSM) for annular illumination won favor with Semiconductor International's judging staff. They were also impressed with the intelligent computer-integrated manufacturing systems, advanced process control (APC), fault detection and classification, and recipe management systems in place at Fab 7. Finally, Fab 7 was cited for its clean environmental practices as well, with the judges noting advances in water recovery, energy efficiency and overall clean room practices.
Chartered's Fab 7 is a key element in the company's Common Platform initiative with IBM and Samsung. Building on a joint-development agreement, which also includes Infineon Technologies, the three companies are aligned on bringing leading-edge process technology to market and offering the industry's first cross-foundry compatibility across their respective fabs. This customer-centric model allows the production of a single GDSII-compatible design at any of the three alliance fabs with no re-design required, utilizing a common set of design enablement support from EDA and IP suppliers who support the Common Platform processes. Through this collaboration, Chartered has been able to improve its rate of technology evolution and moderate its development costs while delivering an unprecedented degree of flexibility for customers' sourcing needs.
McIlvaine Company,
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