SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
June 2017
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
AXT
Resumes Substrate Production in Beijing Facility
Samsung’s
New Semiconductor Plant Online in July
WorleyParsons China Wins Engineering Design Contract
Heptagon
Opens New Plant in Ang Mo Kio
GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Chengdu Partner to expand FD-SOI Ecosystem
AXT has resumed wafer processing production of all
substrate types, including InP, GaAs and germanium, at its manufacturing
facility in Beijing, China, following an electrical fire on March 16, 2017.
As previously reported, the fire caused no damage to InP
crystal growth or wafer production. In addition, the company's 6-inch GaAs and
germanium crystal growth furnaces were not damaged by the fire, and there is no
damage to the electrical supply supporting these 6-inch crystal growth furnaces.
The electrical power supply supporting 2-inch, 3-inch and
4-inch GaAs and germanium crystal growth was damaged. The company’s
custom-designed furnaces enable it to rotate key furnace hardware between
different growth diameters. The company plans to use some of the 6-inch furnace
capacity for 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch diameter GaAs and germanium crystal
growth production.
In addition to rotating diameter sizes, the company has
sufficient redundancy in furnaces and plans to move furnaces within the plant to
an area designated for crystal growth expansion.
Power can then be connected and the company can restore the
smaller diameter crystals to full production. The company believes it can return
to full production during the second quarter.
Further, to meet immediate customer demand, staged
inventory of smaller diameter crystalline ingots will be moved to wafer
processing.
AXT’s wafer processing production area, including its
cleanroom, is housed in a facility across the street from the building in which
the electrical short circuit fire occurred, and was not affected by this event.
Further, as it previously announced, no structural damage
occurred to the building in which the fire took place.
“I am thankful that no injuries occurred and that the
damage to our facilities was considerably less than we initially believed,” said
Morris Young, chief executive officer. “Further, I am grateful to local
authorities for their timely response and assistance. We remain convinced about
our business opportunities and are deeply committed to supporting the
requirements of our customers through this process.”
Tech giant Samsung Electronics will start operating its new
semiconductor facilities in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, from July, according
to news reports on April 12.
The facilities are the world’s largest in size, built on
2.89 million square meters of land. The Korean tech giant will churn out
fourth-generation 3-D NAND flash memory chips that stack 64-layers of cells
vertically. The chipmaker has already asked its partners to supply necessary
chip manufacturing equipment by the end of May, according to the Seoul Economy
Daily.
“Initially, the
production volume at the new facilities will be limited and it will a couple of
years before the facilities are fully operational,” said a source.
Samsung is expected to start operations at the chip-making
complex this year, but a specific timeline has not yet been officially released.
Construction started in 2015, costing the firm 15.6
trillion won (US$13.6 billion). The full production capacity for both planar and
vertical NAND chips is estimated to stand at 450,000 wafers per month, with 3-D
NAND chips accounting for more than half the volume.
Samsung is currently the world’s No. 1 NAND flash memory
chip company. It saw its global market share increase from 32 percent in 2015 to
36.1 percent last year.
WorleyParsons China, the country’s largest international
engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) provider, has been
awarded a detailed engineering design contract with a major global polysilicon
manufacturer.
The 10-month project will see the company lead the design
of process units for high-purity E-grade polysilicon, which is widely used in
the solar sector to produce solar cells, integrated circuits and semiconductors.
High-purity polysilicon has a high photoelectric conversion rate and is one of
the most effective clean energy sources available.
Chosen for its industry track-record, technical expertise
and Intellectual Property Protection (IPP), WorleyParsons will optimize the
customer’s manufacturing process and reduce costs. More than 100 staff from five
local offices will be required during the project’s peak engineering stage.
Tom Liao, Executive Vice President – Lead for Business
Group Chemicals & Petrochemicals at WorleyParsons China said: “This contract
represents a significant step for WorleyParsons as we continue to build our
expertise in the solar sector. Our industry track-record was a key factor in
this award – cementing our position as a leading EPCM provider for the energy
industry.”
The opening of a new manufacturing plant in Ang Mo Kio by
high-end optical packaging firm Heptagon, encapsulates the high quality
processes, products and jobs Singapore aspires to, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman
Shanmugaratnam said.
"It's about (developing) the most advanced manufacturing
processes, R&D-driven production of transformational products, and the creation
of high quality jobs," said Mr. Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for
Economic and Social Policies.
Heptagon, acquired by semiconductor giant AMS last year,
will spend $500 million over two years on its new 300,000 sq. ft. facility, as
well as on other investments such as state-of-the-art technologies, equipment
and developing its staff.
This investment will be the largest in the precision
engineering industry over the last decade in Singapore.
Mr. Alexander Everke, AMS chief executive, said: "Thanks to
Singapore's pro-business environment, highly skilled workforce and geographical
location, the decision to make this significant investment was straightforward."
The new facility will primarily focus on the packaging of
optical products, an important but complex procedure in the manufacturing
process, and the addition and positioning of filters, which is essential to
create color sensors.
Sensor solutions developed by Heptagon and AMS capture and
analyze light, color, images and sound to measure minuscule changes in specific
parameters. They can be found in products such as smartphones, mobile devices,
automobiles and industrial automation.
Mr. Tharman also noted that Heptagon's new facility is an
example of how the industry and jobs are going to be transformed together as
products become more sophisticated. "The business of precision engineering is
changing... a lot of the jobs will also be conducted not in the workshops of
yesteryear but in laboratory-like facilities or highly automated clean rooms,"
he said.
As jobs in the precision engineering industry evolve,
companies and the Government will need to work together to help workers adjust
to this transformation, particularly through the reskilling of the workforce,
Mr. Tharman added.
To this end, Heptagon has partnered Workforce Singapore to
develop two Professional Conversion Programs for assistant engineers and
component original equipment manufacturer engineers. Heptagon expects the
six-month programs, which comprise at least three classroom training modules and
on-the-job training, to train around 160 locals over the course of two years.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES and the Chengdu municipality has announced
an investment to spur innovation in China’s semiconductor industry. The partners
plan to build a world-class FD-SOI ecosystem including multiple design centers
in Chengdu and university programs across China. The investment of more than
$100 million is expected to attract leading semiconductor companies to Chengdu,
making it a center of excellence for designing next-generation chips in mobile,
Internet-of-Things (IoT), automotive and other high-growth markets.
GF and Chengdu recently launched a joint venture to build a
300 mm fab to meet accelerating global demand for GF’s 22FDX FD-SOI technology.
Connected to this manufacturing partnership, Chengdu is now focusing on
developing the city as a center of excellence for 22FDX design. The partners
plan to establish multiple centers focused on IP development, IC design and
incubating fabless companies in Chengdu, with the expectation of hiring more
than 500 engineers to support semiconductor and systems companies in developing
products using 22FDX for mobile, connectivity, 5G, IoT, and automotive. There
will also be a focus on creating partnerships with universities across China to
develop relevant FD-SOI coursework, research programs and design contests.
“China is the largest semiconductor market and is leading
the way with a nationwide commitment to smart cities, IoT, smart vision and
other advanced, mobile or battery-powered connected systems” said Alain Mutricy,
senior vice president of product management at GF. “FDX is especially well
suited for Chinese customers, and the FD-SOI ecosystem in Chengdu will provide
the support system necessary to help chip designers take full advantage of the
technology’s capabilities. We are committed to extend our partnership with
Chengdu to accelerate adoption of FDX in China.”
“Following the ribbon cutting marking the signing of our
Investment Cooperation Agreement, and to deepen our cooperation and attract more
best-in-class semiconductor companies to Chengdu, the Chengdu Municipal
Government is delighted to cooperate with GlobalFoundries on this FD-SOI
ecosystem action plan,” said Gou Zheng Li, Vice Mayor of City of Chengdu. “Over
the next six years, we aim to build a world-class ecosystem for FD-SOI and make
Chengdu a Center of Excellence for the design and manufacturing of integrated
circuits.”
GF’s 22FDX technology employs a 22 nm Fully-Depleted
Silicon-On-Insulator (FD-SOI) transistor architecture to deliver the industry’s
best combination of performance, power and area for wireless, battery-powered
intelligent systems. Construction of the new Chengdu fab has commenced and is on
schedule with an expected completion date in early 2018. The fab will begin
production of mainstream process technologies in 2018 and then focus on
manufacturing 22FDX, with volume production expected to start in 2019.
Supporting Quotes
Joe Chen, Executive Vice President and Co-COO of MediaTek
“MediaTek established our site in Chengdu back to 2010.
Chengdu is quickly becoming an international destination for cutting-edge
technology companies. We are thrilled to see continued investment to establish
the region as a center of excellence for both manufacturing and design of GF’s
FDX technology.”
Spencer Pan, AMD President, Greater China
“The Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone is quickly
becoming an international center for technology innovation, and we are delighted
to see Chengdu’s growing partnership with GF on advanced semiconductor design
and manufacturing.”
Min Li, CEO of Rockchip
“We are pleased to see Chengdu investing in an ecosystem to
support GF’s innovative FDX technology. These types of partnerships are critical
to supporting China’s growing fabless semiconductor industry and helping
companies like Rockchip differentiate in the mobile SoC market.”
Shen Lei, VP, Technology Engineering and QA, Shanghai Fudan
Microelectronics Group Company Limited
“We congratulate Chengdu and GF for establishing an
innovative partnership to support advanced semiconductor design and
manufacturing of FD-SOI in China. This investment in a design ecosystem will
help Fudan continue to be the leader in delivering innovative solutions in
integrated circuit design.”
Dan Hutcheson, CEO and Chairman of VLSI Research
“This new design and IP ecosystem in Chengdu is exactly
what the Chinese fabless industry needs to take advantage of the game-changing
features of FD-SOI. The initiative is well positioned for success, considering
GF’s track record of positive private-public partnerships to grow ecosystems
around its fabs in Germany and New York.”
Handel Jones, CEO of International Business Strategies
“GF’s FDX offerings bring together the best in low-power
FD-SOI technology to provide real-time trade-offs in power, performance and
cost. We see it as a very good fit for multiple applications and expect rapid
growth in demand for FD-SOI in China. This new collaboration between GF and
Chengdu to invest in expanding the design ecosystem for FD-SOI in China will
accelerate its adoption and deployment.”
Patrick Moorhead, President and Principal Analyst, Moor
Insights & Strategy
“GF’s 22FDX technology is well suited for high-volume,
mainstream applications like mobile, IoT, 5G and automotive. China is driving
unprecedented growth in these markets, underpinned by an emerging group of
domestic chip designers. Chengdu’s commitment to building a world-class
semiconductor ecosystem will help spur continued innovation in this space.”
Dr. Anirudh Devgan, Executive Vice President and General
Manager, Digital & Signoff Group and System & Verification Group at Cadence
“Our customers demand the highest quality design tools and
process technologies to help them deliver optimized SoCs. Through our ongoing
collaboration with GF, we look forward to being a part of this FD-SOI ecosystem
in Chengdu to enable customers with our tools and design flows.”
Dasaradha Gude, CEO of Invecas
“FD-SOI is an ideal technology for the fast-growing Chinese
semiconductor market since it results in better performance as well as lower die
costs. Invecas is pleased that Chengdu and GF are investing in developing a
design ecosystem for FD-SOI in the region, and looks forward to being a part of
that ecosystem by setting up a development center in the region which will
leverage its strong semiconductor expertise and develop advanced IP to help
customers win with their FD-SOI designs.”
Carlos Mazure, Chairman and Executive Director of the SOI
Industry Consortium
“The SOI Industry Consortium expects the market for FD-SOI
technology to grow rapidly in China enabling numerous opportunities. We are
pleased to see the Chengdu government investing in developing an extensive
design ecosystem for this technology. China's design community will benefit from
a robust ecosystem of design IP suppliers to support their innovations towards
the next-generation chips.”
Paul Boudre, CEO of Soitec
“FD-SOI continues to see strong momentum and adoption from
customers across the globe. China is driving a new wave of connected
applications, and Chengdu and GF’s investment in expanding the design ecosystem
should accelerate the use of FD-SOI for customers in China. Soitec is committed
to support GF with high volumes of quality FD-SOI substrates to support the
growing demand from customers.”
Sassine Ghazi, SVP and co-GM, Design Group at Synopsys
“As a charter member of the GF FDXcelerator ecosystem
initiative, Synopsys enables our mutual customers to realize the full
entitlement of the GF FDX process for their complex designs. The collaboration
between Synopsys and GF on the FDX platform provides designers with FD-SOI
optimized Synopsys IP, tools and streamlined design flow to speed development
and accelerate their time-to-market. Synopsys looks forward to actively
participating as Chengdu and GF expand the FD-SOI ecosystem in China.”
Wayne Dai, CEO of VeriSilicon
“Chengdu and GF are demonstrating great leadership by
investing in the development of a design ecosystem for FD-SOI in Chengdu.
VeriSilicon has experience designing SoCs in FD-SOI for more than five years and
we have demonstrated its benefits in addressing ultra-low power and low energy
applications. Being a Silicon Platform as a Service (SiPaaS) company and with
more than 500 R&D engineers in China including more than 150 R&D engineers in
Chengdu, VeriSilicon looks forward to continue to play a major role in this
expanding FD-SOI ecosystem to enable customers to deliver optimized System on a
Chip (SoC) and System in a Package (SiP) solutions for a wide range of end
markets including ‘intelligent’ devices, smart homes, smart cars, and smart
cities especially for the China market.”
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