SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
April 2012
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ChipMOS to Expand Taiwan Footprint
TSMC Starts New-Phase Expansion at Fab 14
Samsung Plans Semiconductor Plant
Dow Launches R&D Center in Seoul
Maxim Integrated Products to Open Building
300mm Wafer Processing at Axus Technology
ChipMOS Technologies announced that its majority-owned subsidiary, ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES INC. won a public court bidding process, allowing it to purchase an existing building for approximately US$10.1 million. The building is located directly across ChipMOS's existing facility in Southern Taiwan Science Park and features approximately 393,173 square feet of floor space.
S.J. Cheng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ChipMOS said, "This was a perfect opportunity for us to add needed manufacturing floor space. The fact that the new building is located literally across the street from our existing facility opens up new options to us in how we deploy our manufacturing resources and personnel. Customers and partners will also have added confidence in ChipMOS given our commitment of efficiently supporting their roadmaps and their increased demand levels. Importantly, this is a very attractive transaction for us from a financial standpoint."
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the commencement of the fifth-phase expansion of its Fab 14 GigaFab, in a further sign of accelerating the company's plan to provide commercialized 20nm process technology.
According to the world's No.1 silicon foundry, the Fab 14 Phase 5 facility will be TSMC's second 20nm-capable fab, scheduled to begin volume production in early 2014. Its Fab 12 Phase 6 in Hsinchu is scheduled to begin volume production on 20nm technology in 2013.
Meanwhile, S.Y. Chiang, the firm's senior vice president of R&D pointed out that Fab 14's Phase-5 facility is built to make chips on 20nm node developed at the company's Hsinchu headquarters.
After Phase-5 construction, Fab 14 will start Phase-6 construction. The two phases have total clean room area of 87,000 square meters (936,120 sq. ft.), bigger than 11 soccer fields combined and four times the size of a typical 12-inch fab.
Constructions of the phases are estimated to cost spending of around NT$350 billion (US$11.6 billion).
Fab 14 is TSMC's second 12-inch fab following Fab 12. With Phases 1, 2, 3 and 4 now in operation, Fab 14 has capacity of 550,000 12-inch wafers per quarter, making it the world's largest 12-inch fab. The four-phase facilities are estimated to generate total revenue of US$6 billion a year, about the amount planned for Phase 5 and 6 combined.
Taiwan's industry executives estimated TSMC would remain leading Samsung Electronics in silicon foundry capacity with its three giga fabs - Fab 12, Fab 14, and Fab15 - although the two are tied in 20nm process competition.
Samsung plans to put its 20nm process into pilot production by the end of this year. It announced 20nm process plan in cooperation with IBM last year.
"This groundbreaking for Fab 14, Phase 5 represents TSMC's capability to develop leading-edge technology, build advanced capacity, and satisfy customer demand. It also lays the foundation for TSMC's next wave of growth." stressed TSMC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Morris Chang, who hosted the groundbreaking ceremony.
Phase 5 facility is designed to have maximum capacity of 30,000 wafers a month.
Currently, Fab 14 is staffed with approximately 4,600 employees. The company said the expansion will create another 4,500 high-quality jobs, bringing fresh talent into the semiconductor industry and injecting new momentum into TSMC's continued growth.
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of computer-memory chips, will spend $7 billion building a semiconductor factory in China as demand grows, fuelled by mobile devices including Apple's iPhone and iPad.
The company will invest $2.3 billion initially in the Xi'an plant, Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung said in a regulatory filing. The factory will start producing semiconductors known as NAND flash next year.
Samsung is boosting spending as demand for flash memory, used to store media including photos, videos and applications permanently, is expected to climb 49 per cent in the five years to 2015.. The Xii'an facility is the company's largest investment in an overseas factory, Samsung said in a statement.
"A single factory of this size could be the largest in the industry," Seo Won Seok, a Seoul-based analyst said by phone. "For NAND flash, China will be a key production site, along with Korea."
Samsung is building the plant in China because the world's most populous country is growing as a key chip market, the company said in December. Competing memory chipmakers, including Tokyo-based Elpida Memory, are losing money after the prices for DRAM chips, another type used in personal computers, reached a record low.
Samsung opened a new factory in South Korea in September. The 12 trillion-won ($10.6 billion) facility is the largest in the industry and can produce NAND flash chips as well as DRAM.
The company also has a semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas, making both memory and logic chips, including application processors used in mobile phones.
Samsung started operating the Austin factory's logic-chip production line at full capacity in October about five months after operations began.
DOW Chemical giant The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) recently launched its global research & development (R&D) center in Seoul, South Korea, for electronic materials. The new R&D facility dubbed “Dow Seoul Technology Center” is focused on technological advancements in display technologies and semiconductor-related applications.
Based in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, the global R&D center is expected to employ around 300 researchers in a five-story building with floor space spanning over 23,700 square meters (255,012 sq. ft.). It is strategically located for serving semiconductor and display customers.
With the inauguration of the Dow Seoul Technology Center, the company has now invested in excess of $400 million in Korea over the past decade to set up manufacturing facilities for semiconductor, display and light-emitting diode (“LED”) technologies.
The Dow Seoul Technology Center will primarily focus on lithography, organic light-emitting diodes (“OLED”), display materials and advanced chip packaging. The center, which will house state-of-the-art research facilities, will be the global hub for the company’s OLED research.
Dow Chemical noted that the R&D center has been equipped with a Nikon 193 nanometer (nm) immersion scanner and 300 millimeter (mm) tool cluster, making it the only photoresist supplier on the planet with a 193i application and development facility in Korea. With the launch of the new R&D center, the company is now better placed to offer best-in-class solutions for the rapidly expanding electronics industry in Korea.
Headquartered in Michigan, Dow Chemical is one of the largest chemical manufacturers in the world, offering a range of chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services. The company, which had sales of roughly $60 billion in 2011, has a global footprint across 160 countries and employs roughly 52,000 people. Dow Chemical has 197 manufacturing sites across 36 nations and produces over 5000 products. It competes with EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD).
Dow Chemical is targeting fast-growing geographies for growth. The company derives nearly two-thirds of its revenues from the overseas markets. Its revenues in the emerging markets clocked $19.4 billion (a record) in 2011. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region exceeded $10 billion for the first time in the company's history.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.'s (SMIC) subsidiary, Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corp. has closed a seven-year syndicated loan of $600 million.
The money comes from a consortium of banks led by the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. The loan is mainly intended to support expansion and technology development for SMIC's 300mm wafer fab in Beijing.
"This credit arrangement shows that major Chinese policy banks and commercial banks recognize the potential of our advanced 12-inch (convert to mm except for displays) fab in Beijing. In addition, this loan facility strengthens our capital structure, achieving an improved balance between short term and long term debt," said Tzu-Yin Chiu, CEO of SMIC.
The other participants in the syndicated loan are China Construction Bank, Bank of Shanghai and Bank of Beijing.
The program will serve as a platform for cooperation, strengthening technology development and academic exchange between SMIC, Brite Semiconductor and Zhejiang University.
SMIC has one 300mm and three 200mm wafer fabs at its Shanghai campus and two 300mm modules in its Beijing wafer fab facility. SMIC also has a 200mm fab in Tianjin, and a 200mm fab under construction in Shenzhen. In addition, SMIC manages and operates a 300mm wafer fab in Wuhan that is owned by Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.
The firm, which produces III-V multi-junction solar cells using its Concentrix technology, is now qualified with TQM systems for ISO/TS, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001
Soitec has gained new certifications from the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS).
Soitec’s customer base includes global microelectronics and energy leaders located on five continents. All of Soitec’s operational sites worldwide, including its semiconductor material and solar module factories in France, Germany and Singapore, now meet ISO quality and environmental requirements.
As the result of the most recent audit conducted at the end of 2011, LRQA (Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance) has awarded:
ISO/TS 16949 certification to Soitec’s semiconductor material operations in France at its Bernin and Paris Sud facilities, both of which demonstrated full compliance on their initial audits. The company’s Singapore factory also achieved this compliance, so Soitec will now use the ISO/TS 16949 standard – which is more specific and stringent than the ISO 9001 standard – as the basis of its worldwide quality-management system.
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification to Soitec’s solar facility in Freiburg, Germany, where the company manufactures its concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems.
OHSAS 18001 health and safety certification to Soitec’s Paris Sud facilities. Therefore, all of the company’s semiconductor material operations are in compliance with OHSAS 18001. The company is now working to extend these protocols to its solar module facility located in Freiburg by the end of 2012.
“Soitec’s corporate culture embodies continuous improvement,” says Paul Boudre, chief operating officer of Soitec. “Our fully integrated quality, safety, health and environmental management system is focused on ensuring the superior quality and reliability of our products as well as maintaining our best practices to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Our employees’ dedication to this company-wide initiative ensures Soitec’s ability to anticipate and meet our customers’ diverse requirements in both the electronics and energy markets.”
Soitec’s newest manufacturing solar plant in San Diego, California, is currently being refitted to produce CPV modules for the U.S. renewable-energy market. This facility aims to gain ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications next year and OHSAS 18001 compliance by 2014.
Maxim Integrated Products, a semiconductor company, hosted the grand opening of its 138,000 square-foot building in Farmers Branch, Texas.
In a release, the company noted the campus is Maxim's second largest site. With more than 800 employees, it is a centerpiece for the design, manufacturing and marketing of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits as well as business management functions.
Maxim is in the process of obtaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification for the building, which includes automated lighting and control systems that help reduce energy consumption by 37 percent, double-paned insulated windows with low e-coating, a chilled water air conditioning system, and a roof that reflects heat.
Fraunhofer IZM and Fraunhofer CNT technology centers of Dresden, Germany, will use CMP supplier Axus Technology exclusively to provide advanced 300mm wafer process development and foundry services to North American customers.
Axus Technology is partnering with the Fraunhofer centers for process and metrology services for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), wafer thinning, and related process technologies, increasing the breadth of offerings in the future. Axus Technology will support local North American customers, define the foundry or development work needed, and work with Fraunhofer engineering teams to complete it.
Fraunhofer's European facilities focus on state-of-the-art wafer processing and deep engineering expertise. Process services range from small-batch 300mm wafer fab to production volumes, as well as design and development services.
Fraunhofer CNT develops advanced 300mm process flows for front- and back-end-of-line (FEOL/BEOL) applications. Fraunhofer's IZM-ASSID (All Silicon System Integration Dresden) facility houses a 300mm process line that supports 3D wafer level package (WLP) integration and advanced packaging development. Both Fraunhofer facilities use Applied Materials Reflexion LK 300mm CMP tools and boast extensive metrology capabilities from defectivity analysis and film thickness measurements to microscopy, spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, and more.
Axus Technology's US-based development and foundry facility handles 200mm wafers through die-sized samples. Partnering with 2 Fraunhofer institutions enables Axus Technology to expand to the larger wafer size without investing in additional manufacturing equipment. It also brings Fraunhofer's expertise in chip scaling and 3D integration technologies to North America.
Axus Technology provides CMP and wafer thinning equipment and process services for semiconductor, micro electro mechanical system (MEMS), substrate, and related technologies.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is a leading applied research organization in Europe, with more than 20,000 staff performing contract research for industry, the service sector, and government.
Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) concentrates on microelectronics and microsystem packaging development.
Fraunhofer Center Nanoelectronic Technologies (CNT) focuses on 300mm production in front- and back-end-of-line (FEOL/BEOL) environments, innovative materials for SoCs/SiPs, and nanopatterning through electron-beam lithography.
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