SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
August 2015
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
AMS Plans
to Rent New York Wafer Fab
GE and
SUNY Poly Developing Electronics Packaging Facility at QUAD C
Chipmaker
Plans to Build First Plant in Vietnam
Exagan to
Market GaN-on-silicon FETs on 200 mm Wafers
M+W Group
to Build Semiconductor Factory for SIX Semiconductors in Brazil
Trumpf
Invests in New EUV Facility
Amkor
Technology Expands China Operations
Chey Tae-won, the SK Group chairman who was recently released
from prison by presidential pardon, unveiled details of the group’s investment
plan for chip maker SK Hynix.
Of a total 46 trillion won ($39 billion), 15 trillion won will
go towards supplying equipment for the recently completed DRAM line called M14
in Icheon, Gyeonggi.
The remaining 31 trillion won will be spent on building two
new semiconductor production facilities in Icheon and Cheongju, North
Chungcheong, through 2024, the chip maker said.
SK Hynix CEO Park Sung-wook announced the plan at an event to
mark the completion of the M14 line, which was attended by President Park
Geun-hye and other high-ranking government officials.
The 53,000-square-meter (13-acre) new line is expected to
manufacture a maximum of 200,000 sheets of 300 mm DRAM wafers every month when
in full operation.
The company said it will aim to produce 3,000 sheets of wafers
every month by the end of this year and gradually increase production.
Still, the company has yet to decide on the type of products
to be made at the two new plants.
“We can’t tell the specific type,” said Son Kyung-bae, senior
manager at SK Hynix. “The purpose of the decision is to ensure sufficient
capacity of our chip lineups. The type of product will depend on market
conditions.”
The senior manager said SK Hynix has spent 2.38 trillion won
out of the 46 trillion won funds building the M14 plant.
Chey’s massive investment appears to be part of both the chip
maker’s business strategy and his attempt to meet the government’s tacit
expectations for SK to contribute to reviving the economy through investment and
employment - which some believe led to the presidential pardon.
The chairman had his conviction for embezzlement expunged as
President Park included him on the pardon list for the 70th anniversary of
Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial occupation on Aug. 15.
Chey expressed expectations at the ceremony that the funding
plan will benefit both the country and SK Hynix.
“SK will exercise investment plans swiftly and further expand
it going forward to ensure the competitiveness of SK Hynix as the world’s
leading chipmaker and Korea’s status that it is strong on semiconductor
production,” he said.
On the release, he embarked on long-term business undertakings
as well as day-to-day duties.
Chey hosted a lunch to meet with CEOs of the group’s 17 major
affiliates on Aug. 17, two days after his release. He urged the heads to
expedite investment and submit lists of business sectors in need of funds.
Members of the SK SUPEX Council, the highest decision-making body that oversaw
the group during the chairman’s absence, also attended.
The chairman indicated at the meeting that there will be
additional multi-trillion won investment projects for the group’s energy,
chemical and IT affiliates on top of the 46 trillion won investment.
But the latest move is not all about keeping good ties with
the government. Robust demand for DRAM used in mobile devices has raised the
specter of expanding production lines for the world’s second-largest DRAM
producer.
Built in 1994, the existing facility in Icheon started off
producing 200 mm wafers but later converted into a 300 mm wafer facility in
2005.
Despite the shift, some industry watchers say there is a need
to extend facilities to meet global demand.
SK Hynix constituted a 23.89 percent market share in the
mobile DRAM market in the second quarter, according to market research firm
DRAMeXchange on Aug. 18. The share is the second highest after Samsung
Electronics, which holds a 57.62 percent share.
Some worry the massive expansion of DRAM lines might lead to
oversupply, and pricing pressure could push down margins of the chip maker, as
competitors Samsung and Micron also expand production lines for mobile DRAM.
Skeptics feel sluggish demand for smartphones and computing devices in its key
markets, especially China, will also put pressure on margins.
AMS AG has pledged to spend $2 billion on a wafer fab in
upstate New York. Under an agreement reached with the State of New York, the
Austrian mixed-signal and sensor IC specialist will rent the fully operational
wafer fab for 20 years for a nominal yearly amount and will only incur operating
expenses on the wafers produced, the company stated.
AMS expects to spend more than $2 billion on capital
purchases, operating expenses and other investments in the facility over the
first 20 years.
AMS will work in partnership with New York State and the State
University of New York (SUNY) Polytechnic and the College of Nanoscience and
Engineering (CNSE) to build, staff and operate the 200/300mm wafer fab.
Construction on the 450-acre site at Marcy will start in
spring 2016. AMS expects to create 700 full time jobs and at least an additional
500 additional jobs for contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers and partners.
Additionally, AMS will work with Fort Schuyler Management (FSMC) and SUNY Poly
on a programme of complementary research, commercialization and workforce
training.
Thomas Stockmeier, COO of AMS, said the company had decided to
locate its next manufacturing facility in New York was motivated by the
proximity to education and research institutions and "favorable business
environment" provided by Governor Cuomo of New York State.
New York State governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that GE
Global Research Center of Niskayuna, NY, USA will expand its New York global
operations to the Mohawk Valley, serving as the anchor tenant of the Computer
Chip Commercialization Center (QUAD C) on the campus of the State University of
New York (SUNY) Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and
Engineering (CNSE) in Utica. Between SUNY Poly, GE and affiliated corporations,
nearly 500 jobs are expected to be created in the Mohawk Valley in the next five
years, plus another 350 in the subsequent five years.
Cuomo also announced that Austria-based analog IC and sensor
manufacturer ams AG plans to generate more than 1000 new jobs and initially
invest over $2bn in construction of a 360,000ft2 wafer fabrication plant at the
Nano Utica site in Marcy.
Nano Utica is governor Cuomo's $1.5bn economic development
plan to revitalize the Mohawk Valley by establishing a nanotechnology-driven
ecosystem, including QUAD C and the Marcy Nanocenter.
These two new public-private partnerships represent the launch
of the next phase of the Nano Utica initiative, which now exceeds more than 4000
projected jobs over the next ten years. Designed to replicate the success of
SUNY Poly's Nanotech Megaplex in Albany, Nano Utica aims to boost New York's
role as a hub for 21st century nanotechnology innovation, education, and
economic development.
"Today's announcement by Governor Andrew Cuomo represents a
major expansion for Quad-C and the Nano Utica initiative," comments SUNY Poly's
president & CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros. "Governor Cuomo's pioneering economic
development model, coupled with SUNY Poly CNSE's world-class expertise and
resources, continues to generate historic investment and job creation throughout
the state."
GE Global Research and SUNY Poly will develop a power
electronics packaging facility at QUAD C that aims to advance New York's role in
next-generation semiconductor research, development, and commercial fabrication
to meet global demand for smaller, faster and more efficient devices. This will
expand the scope of the Nano Utica initiative from computer chip
commercialization into power electronics applications for industrial products
such as wind turbines, utility-scale solar inverters, data centers and hybrid
cars. GE's silicon carbide (SiC) technology provides a material platform upon
which the next generation of power devices can be built, enabling higher power
in smaller, more efficient packages.
"Together with New York State and SUNY Polytechnic Institute
in Albany, and now Utica, we are creating a Silicon Carbide Corridor that will
be the epicenter of the next revolution in power," says GE's senior VP & chief
technology officer Mark Little. "In Utica, it will expand the focus from
computer chip commercialization to creating the first US-based Power Electronics
Manufacturing Center with GE's silicon carbide technology," he adds.
Advanced packaging technologies are vital in the development
of faster and more powerful computer chips, as well as silicon carbide chips for
power electronics applications. The packaging facility at QUAD C targets
commercial breakthroughs in an array of applications ranging from defense,
super-computing, tablets, cell phones, and a myriad of power electronics
applications.
The packaging facility is a critical component of the New York
Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium, the governor's $500m public-private
semiconductor research partnership that involves over 100 companies. Based at
the SUNY Poly Megaplex in Albany with lead partners including GE and IBM, the
consortium is driving coordinated materials research and job creation across the
Upstate corridor.
The expansion of QUAD C includes cleanrooms, laboratories,
hands-on education and workforce training facilities, and integrated offices
encompassing 253,000ft2. It is reckoned that the cleanroom will be the first of
its kind in the USA: 56,000ft2 stacked on two levels and now five times larger
than initial plans.
In accordance with the governor Cuomo's innovation-driven
economic development model, no public funds will be given to private companies.
New York will invest $250m at QUAD C and the Marcy Nanocenter to support
critical equipment and infrastructure improvements at both locations. The state
will own and manage these facilities through SUNY Poly, and such state
investment will catalyze the Mohawk Valley's high-tech economic ecosystem,
aiming to attract additional nanotechnology jobs and supply-chain companies to
support and contribute to the Nano Utica initiative.
A state-owned chipmaker plans to set up its first plant in
Saigon, but the government is appealing to the company to rethink its plans and
to partner instead with a foreign company that will utilize its technologies.
Saigon Industry Corporation (SIC) has put on hold its project,
which is part of the city's plan to boost IC technology by 2020, after the
People's Committee raised its petition that stemmed from critics who are
concerned about product demand and human resources, Thanh Nien News reported.
The chipmaker initially scheduled the construction of the
10-hectare plant to begin by the end of 2014. Its estimated cost is $250 million
for the first phase alone. SIC now plans to start the construction of the new
facility at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park next year. The company expects the factory
to be completed in two years.
The plant is expected to manufacture 5,000 to 10,000
integrated circuits monthly, which will increase as all operations go in full
swing later on. These ICs include power management chips, radio-frequency
identification chips and common chips.
On an annual basis, the Saigon facility will fabricate 1.8
billion chips. It is projected to earn $90 million in revenues. However, even if
this project pushes through, it will only provide 9 per cent of the total chip
demand in the country. Yearly, Vietnam consumes more than 20 billion
chips—mostly imported—worth approximately $2 billion.
The government recently included SIC's plant in its 2011-2020
national program for development of advanced technologies, allowing the company
to receive incentives such as financial support and tax breaks among others.
SIC can avail of a tax waiver for four years once the factory
starts its operation and another 50 per cent waiver for the succeeding nine
years. The company's imports will also be tariff-free for five years. In
addition, it can borrow money from the Vietnam Development Bank up to 60 per
cent of the total cost.
Exagan is fabricating its first GaN-on-silicon devices on 200
mm, rather than 150 mm, wafers.
As investment into GaN power semiconductors gathers momentum,
France-based Exagan, is one of a raft of companies to receive funds.
Raising €5.7 million in June, this year, the fabless
Leti-Soitec spin-out joins the likes of Transphorm, US and GaN Systems, Canada,
now pumped up to produce power switching devices for photovoltaic, automotive
and PC markets.
But unlike its contemporaries, Exagan intends to fabricate its
first market-ready GaN-on-silicon devices on 200 mm, rather than 150 mm, wafers.
"By fabricating devices on 200 mm wafers, you reduce the
processing costs, increase device yields but the biggest benefit is accessing
the CMOS technology and manufacturing that exceed 150 mm [wafer sizes]
capabilities," explains Frédéric Dupont, president and chief executive of
Exagan.
"You have access to a wider portfolio of technology and this
all increases the attractiveness of GaN devices," he adds.
Exagan has already fabricated its first prototype 650V FETs on
200 mm wafers, working with engineers at X-FAB Silicon Foundries' CMOS wafer fab
in Dresden, Germany. The fabless French start-up now intends to use the latest
cash injection to industrialize these products.
According to Dupont, his company will now increase device
quality and reliability, and deliver initial samples to customers by the end of
this year.
"Looking at what the competition is doing, we believe there is
still some work to be done on device reliability to meet market requirements at
the right cost," he says. "This is why we're pursuing our 200 mm strategy and we
intend to deliver the same quality and reliability of silicon devices, as
requested by customers."
"GaN devices operate at much faster frequencies than silicon
devices so characterizing these devices is a challenge," he adds. "But we have
very talented power engineers in our team, to address those challenges."
A critical part of Exagan's commercialization strategy has
been to secure a robust supply chain for GaN-on-silicon power devices, and so
become Europe's primary supplier of GaN-based power switches.
According to Dupont, epitaxy is licensed from Soitec and will
be retained within Exagan's own materials facility. XFAB will carry out all
device processing, and partnerships are already formed for device testing.
"As well as smaller companies such as ourselves, and say EPC,
we have some very big players in this market including International Rectifier
that became Infineon," he highlights. "But I think it is important for new
entrants like us to have a place in this market as we are bringing some
flexibility and we are going to be pushing the technology very aggressively."
"The larger players are developing a broad product portfolio
with alternative technology such as silicon carbide," he adds. "But we'll be
pushing GaN-on-silicon vigorously and once our devices are qualified, customers
will know there is no limitation to ramping up volumes."
Exagan's initial customers for its 650V FETs are likely to be
manufacturers of inverters for photovoltaic and electric vehicle applications as
well as power supply and power factor correction players, keen to move away from
the silicon IGBT. Devices will be offered as dies or with standard packages in a
first step.
But what about rival technology SiC? The PV inverter sector
has already started to embrace qualified SiC Schottky Diodes and MOSFETs and
more markets will follow.
Like the silicon IGBT, these transistors are normally-off
devices, so replacing one device for the other, within a power system, is
relatively straightforward. In contrast, the normally-on GaN-on-silicon FET
demands different drivers and a system re-design.
To counter this, many GaN-on-silicon manufacturers are busy
re-configuring the GaN HEMT as a normally-off device. Exagan is also developing
normally-off approaches, but first products will be normally-on devices.
Dupont will not be drawn on applications or markets, but is
quite clear that he does not see SiC devices as being a threat to GaN-on-silicon
FETs.
"SiC has a clear advantage in terms of maturity, its proven
and devices have reliability data," he says. "But for GaN-on-silicon, you're
using silicon, you're using epi-reactors that can be bought everywhere and
there's hundreds of fabs that can produce GaN-on-silicon at 200 mm."
"We will achieve the same performance as SiC devices, and then
GaN will win because of the costs," he concludes.
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 6 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 2015. ‘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. SIX Semicondutores 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.
Hi tech manufacturer Trumpf, of Germany, is investing €70m in
expanding its headquarters and will include extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) microchip
production technology. New buildings covering an area of almost 366,000ft2
(34,000m2) will be built in the next two years. The multi-story facility will
include not only production areas and cleanrooms but also zones for testing and
startup. Office space for 270 workers is also being built. The project is being
planned by the architectural firm Barkow Leibinger. The investment sum includes
the costs of construction, as well as set-up of the elaborate building
automation required by EUV technology.
The new buildings will be used primarily by subsidiary Trumpf
Lasersystems for Semiconductor Manufacturing, which produces and develops laser
amplifiers and related components. The lasers will enable the creation of 10nm
structures on microchips that will make smartphones and other electronic devices
more powerful than they are today.
Amkor Technology, Inc. announced plans to expand its assembly
and test factory located in China’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone. With
this project, Amkor expects to increase its manufacturing facilities in China by
45 percent to nearly 60,000 square meters (645,600 sq. ft.) of cleanroom space.
“Demand for assembly and test services is booming in China,
particularly for advanced products employing wafer-level, die stacking and
package stacking technology,” said Steve Kelley, Amkor’s president and chief
executive officer. “Our Shanghai operation is Amkor’s second-largest factory by
revenue, and offers the most advanced OSAT technologies in China for both local
and international customers. This investment reflects the long term strength of
our mobile communications business, and the increasingly important role of the
Chinese market in the global semiconductor supply chain.”
Amkor plans to invest around $60 million for construction of
the new facilities, which is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2016.
Amkor is a provider of semiconductor packaging and test
services to semiconductor companies and electronics OEMs.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel:
847-784-0012; Fax:
847-784-0061
E-mail:
editor@mcilvainecompany.com
Web site:
www.mcilvainecompany.com