SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
March 2011
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Wacker Expands Polysilicon Production in Germany
Mediatek to Expand its Singapore Operations
SAFC Hitech Taiwan Breaks Ground for Plant at STSP
Air Products to Supply Gases to UMC’s New Wafer Fab
Intel Factory Makes 450mm Chip Wafers
Wacker Chemie AG will expand its production facilities for hyperpure polysilicon at its Burghausen and Nünchritz sites in Germany. By taking de-bottlenecking measures within its integrated production network, it will increase annual quantities at each site by 5,000 metric tons.
Burghausen's annual capacity will rise from some 32,000 metric tons now to about 37,000. At Nünchritz, the polysilicon facility currently under construction and due to come on stream by year-end was to have a production capacity of around 10,000 metric tons per year. Now, its capacity is increasing to 15,000 metric tons annually. First volumes from these expansion measures are expected to be available in 2012. The debottlenecking involves investments totaling some €130 million.
Wacker is also building a new polysilicon production facility in Cleveland, TN, U.S., with an annual capacity of 15,000 metric tons. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
The expansion will enable Wacker to meet the continued rising global demand it expects for hyperpure polycrystalline silicon. Wacker has concluded a series of high-volume, multi-year contracts that also involve advance payments by customers for future deliveries. Thus, polysilicon from ongoing production in Burghausen and originally planned capacities in Nünchritz and Tennessee are essentially under contract until 2014.
Wacker's total hyperpure-polysilicon production capacity will increase to 67,000 metric tons by 2014. Wacker manufactured over 30,000 metric tons of hyperpure polysilicon in 2010, making it one of the top producers worldwide.
With the two polysilicon facilities currently under construction in Nünchritz and Cleveland, Wacker is strengthening its position as a leading supplier of high-quality semiconductor- and solar-grade silicon.
Wacker is a chemical company comprising Wacker Silicones, Wacker Polymers, Wacker Biosolutions, Wacker Polysilicon, and Siltronic.
Mediatek, a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions based in Taiwan, announced that the company plans to invest more than RMB620 million (approx. US$93 million) to expand its research and development centre and business operations in Singapore over the next couple of years. The company also plans to increase its headcount in Singapore to 250 people from the current 160 employees. Semiconductor has been an important growth driver for Singapore.
SAFC Hitech Taiwan broke ground for its latest production plant for materials used in advanced nano processes for LEDs and semiconductors at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP).
SAFC Hitech Taiwan is a subsidiary of SAFC, which is one of the four major business groups of US-listed Sigma-Aldrich with annual revenues of around US$2 billion.
The new plant is being built to meet the needs resulting from the group's fast growing business in Taiwan and other Asia markets.
Air Products announced that its subsidiary in Taiwan, Air Products San Fu Co. Ltd., has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) to provide nitrogen and bulk gases to its new Fab 12 Phase Three and Phase Four in the Tainan Science Industrial Park (TSIP).
Air Products San Fu has established a leading supply position in TSIP, the largest science park in Taiwan. It serves its customers through large, ultra-high purity (UHP) bulk gas facilities and a pipeline that is fed by one of the world’s largest UHP nitrogen facilities. Air Products will supply nitrogen to UMC’s new 300mm wafer fab via its extended pipeline system in the park.
“UMC is a leading global semiconductor foundry and has been a strategic customer for Air Products. We are honored to again be selected to support their business growth,” said Corning Painter, vice president and general manager, Electronics for Air Products. “TSIP is one of the largest science parks in the world with a cluster of key electronics companies whose demand for gases have been growing along with the industry recovery. Our pipeline system and bulk gases facilities have created a reliable and flexible network to meet any new volume demand in a quick and cost-effective way.”
Air Products’ customers in TSIP include major TFT-LCD manufacturers and other semiconductor customers. UMC is the world’s second largest foundry company and a leading 300mm wafer manufacturer. When Phase Three and Phase Four come on-stream, Fab 12's total annual capacity is estimated to reach one million 300mm wafers.
Air Products (NYSE:APD) serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the environment. In fiscal 2010, Air Products had revenues of $9 billion, operations in over 40 countries, and 18,300 employees around the globe.
Texas Instruments has opened its largest fab in China. Texas Instruments has opened its first wafer fabrication facility, or fab, in the Chengdu High-tech Zone. The fab is a fully equipped 200-mm. manufacturing facility and was purchased from Cension Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It includes an operating 120,000-sq.-ft. (11,148-sq.-m.) fab that can support more than $1 billion in annual revenue and a 134,000-sq.-ft. (12,448-sq.-m.) fab reserved for future production needs.
"TI has been committed to serving the China market for 25 years," said Gregg Lowe, TI senior vice president. "Increasingly, customers there are using TI's analog chips for the real-world functions in their electronic applications. This fab in Chengdu will strengthen our ability to support customers' growing requirements and deliver analog products when and where customers need them."
Fab 42 will be the most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world.
Intel Corporation announced plans to invest more than $5 billion to build a new chip manufacturing facility at its site in Chandler, Ariz. The announcement was made by Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini during a visit by President Barack Obama at an Intel facility in Hillsboro, Ore. The new Arizona factory, designated Fab 42, will be the most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world. Construction of the new fab is expected to begin in the middle of this year and is expected to be completed in 2013.
“The investment positions our manufacturing network for future growth,” said Brian Krzanich, senior vice president and general manager, Manufacturing and Supply Chain. “This fab will begin operations on a process that will allow us to create transistors with a minimum feature size of 14 nanometers. For Intel, manufacturing serves as the underpinning for our business and allows us to provide customers and consumers with leading-edge products in high volume. The unmatched scope and scale of our investments in manufacturing help Intel maintain industry leadership and drives innovation.”
While more than three-fourths of Intel’s sales come from outside of the United States, Intel manufactures three-fourths of its microprocessors in the United States. The addition of this new fab will increase the company’s American manufacturing capability significantly. Building the new fab on the leading-edge 14-nanometer process enables Intel to manufacture more powerful and efficient computer chips. The nanometer specification refers to the minimum dimensions of transistor technology. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter or the size one ninety-thousandth the width of an average human hair.
“The products based on these leading-edge chips will give consumers unprecedented levels of performance and power efficiency across a range of computing devices from high-end servers to ultra-sleek portable devices,” said Krzanich.
Fab 42 will be built as a 300mm factory, which refers to the size of the wafers that contain the computer chips. The project will create thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs at Intel’s Arizona site.
Intel has confirmed that it is ready to equip factories to produce 450mm chip wafers. The company's upcoming D1X fabrication plant in Oregon, which will focus on research and development, will reportedly be constructed for compatibility with 450mm tooling. The machines will likely sit alongside tools designed for current 300mm technology.
The larger wafers are expected to produce a greater number of chips in a single run, helping to reduce costs, or enable facilities to produce larger chips without a significant jump in cost from current technology.
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