SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
September 2013
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
XMC Joins Global Semiconductor Alliance
SUNYIT Expands Campus with Computer Chip Center
Universities Launch Nanofab Partnership with Semiconductor Firm
SunEdison to Spin Off Semiconductor Business
Bangalore Says 'No' to India's First Chip Fab
Semiconductor Company Acquires DRAM Fab
Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech Expands Operations
Toshiba Constructs Semiconductor Fab
M+W Group to Build Semiconductor Factory for SIX Semiconductors
Intel Begins Construction on World’s First 450mm Semiconductor Manufacturing Facility
Semiconductor foundry XMC has joined the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), the unifying body of the global semiconductor industry.
XMC, based in Wuhan, China, offers 300mm-based manufacturing capacity based on the advanced process nodes. The company has established an IP foundation by a recently announced licensing agreement with Spansion and IBM.
“GSA serves a critical role in providing a unified voice and structure for our industry. So it is important that we are an active participant in its activities and programs. I believe XMC’s membership in the organization will be mutually beneficial as we evolve our strategy of becoming a global partner to fabless and fab lite companies. I am honored to help represent our region on the Asia Pacific Leadership Council, a group that will help the entire semiconductor industry be able to better understand and work with companies in this part of the world,” says CEO Dr. Simon Yang.
The Global Semiconductor Alliance mission is to accelerate the growth and increase the return on invested capital of the global semiconductor industry by fostering a more effective ecosystem through collaboration, integration, and innovation. It addresses the challenges within the supply chain including IP, EDA/design, wafer manufacturing, test, and packaging to enable industry-wide solutions.
The physical campus continues to expand, with three new buildings completed in the last two years. A fourth building, the $125 million Computer Chip Commercialization Center (Quad-C), is on the way. The Quad-C's more than 200,000 sq. ft. will include more than 50,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the-art cleanroom space that will host advanced research and development initiatives between SUNYIT, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and global industry partners.
Additionally, with its largest-ever class of freshmen arriving for the start of their first fall semester and returning students back on campus, SUNYIT is seeing a substantial increase in overall enrollment this academic year. The freshman class numbers more than 275, up from about 200 last year. The number of new, full-time graduate and transfer students compared to last year is up substantially as well.
SUNYIT, the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, is New York's public polytechnic, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in technology and professional studies.
The College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley announces that its Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory, along with Stanford University’s Nanofabrication Facility, has initiated a virtual technology transfer exercise with TSI Semiconductors LLC, a foundry offering technology development and manufacturing solutions for projects ranging from the smallest to very large lot sizes.
The technology transfer exercise will be conducted with TSI’s research and development organization, Technology Development & Commercialization Services (TDCS), at the firm’s corporate headquarters in Roseville, Calif. TDCS provides dedicated fabrication equipment to enable clients to manage their own development activities.
The Berkeley and Stanford laboratories and TDCS are mapping a large range of fabrication requirements to process technologies available at their facilities so that start-up companies can efficiently translate their proof-of-concept prototypes into production-approved process flows.
“Start-up companies need greater assistance making the leap from academic research facilities to development and production centers,” says Ming Wu, faculty director of Berkeley’s Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory and Nortel Networks Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences. “The earlier the Berkeley NanoLab prepares a company for transition, the greater the chance their technology will make it to market.”
Roger Howe, faculty director of the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility and Ayer Professor of Engineering, describes the collaboration as “an accelerator for lab-to-fab transition. Just as universities train students and prepare them for employers, our publicly available academic research facilities are training start-ups and preparing them for production.”
With its 8-in. fabrication plant in Roseville, TSI can manufacture in a large array of fabrication processes that include analog/mixed-signal; deep-submicron; high-voltage BCDMOS, including SOI for power management applications; and solutions such as novel materials structures and devices.
Wilbur Catabay, TDCS’s chief technology officer and vice president–engineering, explains that a well-developed process is in place for welcoming new customers and products to the Technology Development & Commercialization Services Center. This process focuses upon translating customer prototype inputs into specific fabrication sequence outputs. Defining this process to academic research labs, where many start-ups develop their prototypes, is a way universities can prepare TDCS customers before they even arrive at the Service Center.
Wu emphasizes that TDCS’s focus upon the output requirements is key. “Just because a start-up made a prototype using a specific process doesn’t mean that in production it must be done the same way. If a large fab has a better characterized process that delivers the same result, that’s the way to go.”
SunEdison Inc. announces that it is spinning off its semiconductor business into a separate publicly traded company and will focus on its solar business. The new company will be called SunEdison Semiconductor Inc. SunEdison says the money it makes from the initial public offering will be used to boost its solar business and pay debt.
SunEdison, based in St. Peters, Mo., makes products for the semiconductor and solar industries. In May, the company changed its name from MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. to SunEdison. The semiconductor business, which makes chips used in computers, phones, TVs, and other electronic devices, made up more than half of SunEdison's second-quarter revenue.
The new semiconductor company will operate independently and have its own board of directors, SunEdison says. "This new structure will allow each independent company to pursue its shareholder value generating strategies," says Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison's CEO, in a statement.
SunEdison expects the initial public offering to happen by early 2014. It is subject to regulatory approval. It will sell a minority stake of the semiconductor business to the public through the IPO, the company says.
Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, unfortunately will not house India's first electronic chip fab unit, revealed a senior government official.
"Much as we would have wanted the prestigious project to be based in Bangalore, which has perhaps the best ecosystem for electronics manufacturing in the country, we would be unable to host it because of the heavy demand it would place on water resources," I.S.N. Prasad, Principal Secretary, IT, Biotechnology and Science and Technology, told The Hindu.
In 2011, the Government of India had invited expressions of interest from technology providers and financial investors to submit preliminary expressions of interest in building semiconductor wafer facilities in the country.
Prasad, who was present in a workshop on regulatory and operational issues, organized jointly by the department and MAIT, said, "The establishment of such a facility in or near Bangalore would place an inordinate demand, both in terms of quantity and quality of water, which we (the State government) cannot afford."
Chip fabrication unit requires large quantities of pure water and that the Karnataka government is concerned that diversion of such quantities of pure water for chip fab would starve other industries in and near Bangalore.
Prasad, however, said Gujarat and Greater Noida were among the prime contenders for the project.
Bangalore was among the front-ranking candidates because it already is home to over 85 chip designing companies and has more than 330 research and development companies focused on this line of business, according to The Hindu.
On the other hand, decision on selecting the investor for building the country's first semiconductor wafer fab unit is 'likely to be announced soon.'
The government is in talks with two consortiums to set up chip fabrication units in the country. One is Tower Jazz, IBM, and Jaypee consortium; and the other is Geneva–based chipmaker STMicroelectronics and Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (HSMC).
In June, there were rumors of TowerJazz-IBM-Jaypee consortium winning the bid for first fab in India. However, nothing is official yet.
Semiconductor solutions provider Micron Technology Inc. has completed its acquisition of Elpida Memory Inc., as well as its acquisition of a 24% share of Rexchip Electronics Corp. from Powerchip Technology Corp.
Elpida's assets include a 300mm Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) fabrication facility located in Hiroshima, Japan; an approximate 65 percent ownership interest in Rexchip, whose assets include a 300mm DRAM fabrication facility located in Taiwan; and a 100% ownership interest in Akita Elpida Memory Inc., whose assets include an assembly and test facility located in Akita, Japan. The manufacturing assets of Elpida and Rexchip together can produce more than 185,000 300mm wafers per month, which represents an approximate 45% increase in Micron's current manufacturing capacity.
Elpida has built a presence in Mobile DRAM, targeting mobile phones and tablets. Micron delivers DRAM solutions for networking and servers as well as offering a product portfolio in NAND flash memory and NOR.
Micron manufactures and markets a range of DRAM, NAND, and NOR flash memory, as well as other memory technologies, packaging solutions, and semiconductor systems for use in computing, consumer, networking, embedded, and mobile products.
Ultratech, Inc., a supplier of lithography, laser-processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs), announced that it has moved Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech to Waltham, Mass. The new facility will expand its operations for next-generation atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment development and enable leading-edge scientific research. After acquiring the assets of Cambridge NanoTech last December, Ultratech invested in a new facility to enhance ALD development. With this new facility, Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech now has greatly enhanced its capability to develop innovative process technology for ALD applications.
ALD is an enabling technology which provides coatings and material features with significant advantages compared to other existing techniques for depositing precise nanometer-thin films. This technology is expected to be in high demand in volume manufacturing environments for integrated optics, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMs), implantable devices in the biomedical sector and batteries and fuel cells in the energy market.
Ultratech Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arthur W. Zafiropoulo stated, "By creating a new facility and leveraging the valuable Cambridge NanoTech intellectual property, we have further enhanced our ability to advance the development of next-generation ALD solutions. In addition, we have retained the same team that Cambridge NanoTech customers have worked with in the past. The completion of the new facility marks our successful integration of the Cambridge NanoTech assets into Ultratech's nanotechnology product group. By investing in the expansion of these operations, we expect to generate increased revenue in new and existing markets. Ultratech, and our ALD unit, Ultratech/Cambridge NanoTech, will continue to focus on technology solutions that support our global customers' advanced product and technology roadmaps."
Toshiba Corp. has broken ground for the start of construction of Phase 2 of Fab 5, the company's state-of-the-art fabrication facility at its Yokkaichi Operations memory production facility in Mie Prefecture, Japan.
Toshiba will expand Fab 5 to secure manufacturing space for NAND flash memories fabricated with next generation process technology and for 3D memories. Construction will be completed in summer 2014, and decisions on equipment investments and production levels will reflect market trends.
Three fabs at Yokkaichi Operations currently mass produce NAND flash memories, including Fab 5 phase 1. Fab 5's construction was planned around two phases, the first of which went into operation in July 2011.
The Fab 5 building will consist of five floors with a total floor area of about 614,000 sq. ft.
Toshiba added that the extension would allow it to ‘boost competitiveness and enhance its responsiveness to technology advances and market demands’.
Fab 5 phase 2 will include an automated product transportation system and earthquake-absorbing structure and will be designed to minimize the impact on the environment. The use of LED lighting and energy-saving production facilities, along with waste heat, for example, are expected to cut CO2 emissions by 13% compared with emissions from Fab 4.
M+W Group, a global engineering construction group headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, has been awarded a major contract to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor factory for SIX Semiconductors in Brazil.
The 14,000m2 (150,640 sq. ft.) factory, to be located in Ribeirao Neves in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, will produce microchips on 200mm wafers primarily for industrial and medical applications worldwide.
M+W Group will construct a 5,000m2 (53,800 sq. ft.) cleanroom, including the installation of all process systems and their connections to the production hall. It will work with Brazilian construction company Matec.
The factory is expected to be operational in 2014.
‘As the global market leader for engineering and construction of semiconductor factories we are very pleased to be able to contribute to the success of this high-tech project, which is so important for Brazil,’ said M+W Group CEO Jürgen Wild.
All in all, the contract for M+W Group comprises the construction of the clean room (more than 53,000 square feet), the installation of all process systems and their connections to the production ("hook-up“).The project is jointly managed by the German and the Brazilian affiliates of M+W Group. The factory is expected to go operational in 2014. Client and partner of M+W Group is the Brazilian construction company MATEC.
“As the global market leader for engineering and construction of semiconductor factories we are very pleased to be able to contribute to the success of this high-tech project, which is so important for Brazil,” says M+W Group CEO Jürgen Wild.
SIX Semiconductors is a partnership between SIX Soluções Intelligentes, a technology company of the EBX Group, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social, Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais, IBM and Matec Investimentos e Tecnologia Infinit WS-Intecs.
Intel Corp. confirmed the beginning of construction of the fab D1X module 2. The new facility will be the world’s first semiconductor manufacturing factory processing 450mm wafers, which will be used primarily for development purposes and which will lead the way for the whole multi-billion dollar industry.
“Construction of D1X module 2 has begun,” said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel, during a brief conversation with X-bit labs.
Mr. Mulloy did not produce any more details about the project that is supposed to cost Intel about $2 billion only this year, it is unclear at what stage the construction is and when exactly it is projected to be completed. In fact, the only thing we do know about the schedule for the fab D1X module 2 is a short comment made by Intel’s chief financial officer earlier this year.
“We will spend roughly $2 billion to start building our first 450mm [D1X module 2] development facility [in 2013]. […] When we look at 2015 as the time when we can have [450mm] equipment available, we want to start […] construction of a big development facility [now]. [Construction] is typically a couple of year’s cycle,” said Stacy Smith, the chief financial officer of Intel.
D1X module 2 is about the same size (1.1 million square feet, 106.1 thousand of square meters) as the original fab D1X and is built specifically for 450mm wafers. When the second module is complete, it will start up on 450mm wafers once it is equipped with appropriate manufacturing tools and gear.
Intel is currently equipping its D1X development fab to process 300mm wafers using 14nm manufacturing technology and expects to initiate production this year. While the D1X module 1 facility is 450mm-capable, it will come online as a 300mm fab.
“We do not have a specific schedule for D1X module 2 yet. The spending on 450mm this year is for bricks and mortar and some early development equipment, but nothing for production at this time,” said Chuck Mulloy earlier this year.
Nowadays chips that power everything from washing machine to smartphone to PC to server are made on 300mm wafers. The growing demand for more advanced microprocessors as well as increasing competition calls for slashing down per-processor costs. Being made on larger 450mm wafers, chips for advanced devices will get more affordable over time.
All in all, the contract for M+W Group comprises the construction of the clean room (more than 53,000 square feet), the installation of all process systems and their connections to the production ("hook-up“).The project is jointly managed by the German and the Brazilian affiliates of M+W Group. The factory is expected to go operational in 2014. Client and partner of M+W Group is the Brazilian construction company MATEC.
“As the global market leader for engineering and construction of semiconductor factories we are very pleased to be able to contribute to the success of this high-tech project, which is so important for Brazil,” says M+W Group CEO Jürgen Wild.
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