SEMICONDUCTOR
UPDATE
May 2007
McIlvaine Company
UMC Opens New R&D Headquarters
UMC opened its new R&D center for nanometer technologies to coincide with the company's 27th anniversary. The facility, which will focus on R&D for advanced nanometer technologies for 300mm manufacturing, is located adjacent to 300mm Fab 12A at UMC's Tainan Science Park site. The close proximity of the new R&D center to UMC's most advanced fabs enhances the company's ability to rapidly move newly-developed technologies to mass production, resulting in increased competitiveness for UMC customers. The R&D center will be staffed with over 1,000 employees when fully operational, most of which will consist of R&D engineers.
The R&D center occupies a nearly 6,000 square meter area of UMC's 155,660 square meter Tainan site. The ten-story building features independent cleanroom R&D areas for the continued development of 45nm and below advanced process technologies, as well as restaurants and a fully equipped recreation center for employees.
NXP Plans for Acquisitions in India
NXP's new facility houses the R&D operations as well as the local market sales activities. NXP has been in India since 1990, both as a semiconductor supplier and, more recently, as a key player in the nation's burgeoning R&D landscape. The R&D centre currently works on activities in IC design including libraries, flows and IP clocks. It also houses software activities for NXP's focus on digital television, cellular, multi-media for cellular, connectivity, and RFID technologies.
The headcount at NXP's Indian operations grew from 760 in late 2006, to 815 today, with plans to increase this to 900 by the end of 2007. Earlier this year, NXP acquired Silicon Labs cellular unit, which provided it with a single chip capability that can bring the total cost of the phone to affordable levels and is of particular interest to the Indian market.
Chartered in Second Phase of $3.5 Billion Fab Project
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing struck a deal to borrow $610 million to push ahead the ramp-up of its first 300-millimeter wafer fab.
The loan, taken from J.P. Morgan, is being guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States and will be used to buy chip making equipment from US suppliers.
Chartered is moving into the second phase of building capacity at Fab 7, a $3.5 billion project. The fab is a key asset in Chartered's strategy to participate in an alliance with IBM and Samsung to craft common process technologies that can be easily ported among the facilities.
It is expected to begin qualification of the companies' jointly developed 45-nanometer low-power process in late 2007.
SEMATECH will Locate HQ at UAlbany NanoCollege
As part of the partnership with UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), International SEMATECH has agreed to locate its headquarters in Albany, NY, increase its workforce by 450 jobs over three years, and provide $25 million to fund research at colleges and universities at five centers around the state.
To facilitate this expansion, legislative leaders agreed to introduce and pass shortly a bill providing $300 million in funding which will be made available over five years to help SEMATECH purchase advanced semiconductor process equipment. SEMATECH has made a financial commitment of $300 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
The project will support new research at the Nanotech Center in Albany as well as serve as an additional resource supporting existing operations of SEMATECH members in the Hudson Valley and the Capital Region. New York's funding, introduced by the legislature, will be used to both build state-of-the-art infrastructure and acquire advanced semiconductor tooling. In addition, $25 million of the funds will be devoted to research at colleges and universities at five centers around the state, including the Nanoscale Metrology and Imaging Center in Albany.
In 2002, International SEMATECH (Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology) brought global attention to the strength of New York State's academic research and development facilities for semiconductor technology when it chose Albany — over competing bids from sites in the U.S., Europe and the Pacific Rim — as the site for its first center outside of Austin, TX. Since that time, SEMATECH North has become a leader in the development and commercialization of leading-edge nanolithography technology. In addition, SEMATECH North provided a critical mass of nanotechnology intellectual assets and state-of-the-art infrastructure at UAlbany that allowed for the creation of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and its rapid rise to a global resource for research and education in nanoscience and nanoengineering.
New ‘Green Fab’ Standard Touted at ISMI Workshop
In response to recent ISMI-held workshops on ‘Green Fab' strategies and ‘Fab Energy Conservation' programs, International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative members have agreed to draft a "green fab standard" aimed at building semiconductor factories that will use less energy and water, and minimize waste and air pollution.
"Being ‘green' in terms of products, processes, and facilities is mandatory for any industry that wants to thrive in our current environment," said Scott Kramer, ISMI director. "Chip-makers recognize that eco-friendly manufacturing is a clearly established part of corporate responsibility - something that is expected by investors, customers, and communities around the world."
ISMI members have now compiled a set of best practices and tactics for conserving energy in current factories.
Osram to Build Chip Plant in Malaysia
German lighting giant Osram is to expand two of its Opto Semiconductors subsidiary’s factories in a multi-million euro program, which includes converting its Asian packaging facility into a chip making base.
Europe's number-one LED company, Osram, has underlined the importance of LED applications to its future by building an additional chip-making plant for its Osram Opto Semiconductor business.
The massive Munich-based firm will also expand existing assembly plants at its Penang, Malaysia and Regensburg, Germany sites.
The new chip factory will be built at its site in Penang, where Osram OS has operated since 1999, and where it currently produces its Pictiva OLED displays.
A spokesperson for Osram said that the Penang chip production line would be focused upon back-end processing, with all the epitaxy remaining based in Regensburg.
Rather than being built specifically to house novel technologies, the new facilities are required to meet the growing demand for existing LED-based lighting products.
Although the company did not reveal how much money it is to spend on the expansions, it did indicate that at both sites the work was to cost “high double figures of millions of euros.”
Osram will be significantly expanding production capacity at its plant in Penang, Malaysia. At the same time, a further construction phase will be completed by the end of 2007 at its plant in Regensburg. Osram will then be in a better position to meet growing demand for LEDs far into the future. In Malaysia, in addition to the existing facilities for assembling Regensburg chips a wafer production line will be put into operation in 2008 for the upcoming volume applications for lighting and consumer.
The construction of a chip factory in Penang will mean that Osram will have a second production site for chips in addition to the plant in Regensburg. From 2008 the Penang site will manufacture LED chips. Total investment in the new plant will ultimately be in high double figures of millions of euros. The lighting manufacturer is also starting to expand the existing LED assembly facilities in Penang. When work is completed, capacity will be 50 percent higher.
Expansion work will also continue in Regensburg at the same time as capacity is expanded in Malaysia. Regensburg will continue to manufacture semiconductor materials and produce wafers for semiconductors for lighting, display and sensor applications. The new construction phase in Regensburg is approaching completion, with investment in fairly high double figures of millions of euros. In addition to production, Regensburg also accommodates the central research and development department of Osram Opto Semiconductors.
Singapore's Wafer Fab Training Program Gets $5 Million Funding
The Economic Development Board (EDB) will invest over $5 million over the next three years into a program designed to groom more wafer fabrication experts at local universities.
The agency said that the funds, contributed by the government and industry, would be used to provide monthly stipends of up to $710 to engineering undergraduates specializing in wafer fabrication in their final years of study at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University. Students sponsored under the initiative can also expect "guaranteed job offers" upon graduation.
The Wafer Fabrication Specialist Manpower Program aims to produce around 300 new engineers annually to meet chip industry demand.
Qimonda recently announced plans to establish a 300mm DRAM plant in Singapore. Intel, Soitec and Philips are among the other companies due to bring manufacturing facilities online in Singapore over the next few years.
Qimonda Expands Asia Footprint with 300mm Facility
Qimonda AG plans to strengthen its footprint in the Asian market by building a 300mm manufacturing facility in Singapore.
Qimonda plans to invest approximately $2.7 billion in the site over the next five years, and is expected to add 60,000 wafer starts per month to the company's overall front-end capacity when fully ramped. The new fab will also include a 20,000sqm clean room space.
The company targets to finance the initial capital expenditures for the building out of its own cash flow and will utilize project-based financing thereafter. Commencement of construction is at the end of 2007, with production expected to start in 2009. When running at full capacity, it will have more than 1,500 employees.
The new Singapore facility extends Qimonda's position in 300mm manufacturing and adds to its network of 300mm manufacturing sites in Dresden, Germany and Richmond, U.S.
US Semiconductor Firm to Invest $1 Billion in Clark
Top US semiconductor firm, Texas Instruments (TI) Inc. the world's biggest maker of mobile phone chips would build a US$1-billion plant in the Clark Freeport Zone, Clark Development Corporation (CDC) confirmed.
Levy P. Laus, CDC president, said Malacañang and TI Philippines have already signed an agreement for the investment, which will start to pour into the Freeport starting August this year.
The TI investment is an expansion of the firms assembly/test operations in the Philippines with a new site that aims to be the most environmentally efficient assembly/test site in the world.
At 77,000 square meters in size, the site within the Clark Freeport Zone is expected to eventually employ about 3,000 workers and will double the capacity that TI has in the Philippines.
Once built, they expect to quickly ramp the site with the help of our experienced team in Baguio, where they have had assembly/test operations for almost three decades.
Construction is expected to start in the second half of 2007, with initial production in the second half of 2008.
With an expected investment of US$1 billion over 10 years, the site will incorporate many of the environmental and energy design features that were first used by TI in the United States at its newest semiconductor facility. Reducing water, energy and waste will be given priority consideration from the start of building design and construction, and it will be the first ground-up facility to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered in the Philippines.
McIlvaine Company,
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