Now, isn't that an interesting piece of news? It is splashed all over the Internet! I came across it on Semiconductor International, Reuters as well as The Dallas Morning News.
David Lammers writes in Semiconductor International: "With a goal of opening the industry's first 300mm analog fab, Texas Instruments Inc. (TI, Dallas) has placed a bid of $172.5M for the 300mm semiconductor production tools at the closed Qimonda DRAM fab in Virginia."
In that same story, TI spokewoman Gail Chandler said: "The equipment would be used for analog manufacturing using 300mm wafers. It would likely result in the world's first 300mm analog fab." That's really going to be some achievement for TI!
I wonder, what would have been the story for the Indian semiconductor industry had an Indian investor showed some spirit by buying out Qimonda ever since it filed for bankruptcy protection during the winter! Or, some Indian company buying out the fab equipment to equip its own fab in India. Did anyone think of such a possibility?
Showing posts with label 300mm fabs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 300mm fabs. Show all posts
Monday, 24 August 2009
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
GlobalFoundries calls for renewed focus on 300mm manufacturing innovation
SEMICON West 2009, SAN FRANCISCO, USA: In its effort to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumer technology, the semiconductor industry has long been preoccupied with smaller transistors and larger silicon wafers.
While these are important tactics, opportunities for increasing efficiency, becoming more agile, and minimizing waste are often overlooked in manufacturing processes, according to Thomas Sonderman, vice president of manufacturing systems and technology at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
At SEMICON West 2009, Sonderman is calling for a renewed focus on operational agility in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, particularly in light of increased pressure to move to processes based on 450 millimeter (mm) wafers.
“The rush to 450mm suggests a lack of ideas for improving fab productivity,” Sonderman said. “At GLOBALFOUNDRIES, we see a tremendous amount of headroom left in the 300mm process. We are tapping our expertise in lean manufacturing to extend the lifecycle of the industry’s current 300mm investments, and we are investing more than $4 billion in a new, state-of-the-art 300mm fab in upstate New York because we are confident in our ability to get the most out of this technology generation.”
Sonderman will be participating in the SEMICON West Foundry Summit, a two-hour panel discussion on the market strategies, technologies, capital spending, and other strategic plans of the world's major chip foundries. He cites GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ rapid transition and time to mature yield at the 45 nanometer (nm) process node as a model for operational efficiency in the industry.
During the transition to 45nm, GLOBALFOUNDRIES achieved the fastest time to mature yield of any process in its history, while simultaneously implementing a complex new form of lithography—immersion lithography—ahead of all other semiconductor manufacturers.
Immersion lithography allows for enhanced microprocessor design definition and manufacturing consistency by placing a fluid, instead of air, between the final element of the lens of a lithographic exposure tool and the wafer.
All wafer starts in Fab 1, Module 1 have now been converted to 45nm—a process that is proving to deliver few defects, low leakage, and high performance. GLOBALFOUNDRIES and AMD recently announced the launch of a six-core processor codenamed “Istanbul,” which was manufactured using the 45 nm process. “Istanbul” is the most complex processor ever designed by AMD, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ manufacturing agility allowed AMD to deliver “Istanbul” five months ahead of schedule.
“The agility and execution of our design and engineering teams combined with the leading-edge manufacturing of GLOBALFOUNDRIES made possible an early, well-executed delivery of Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processors to customers,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of the AMD Products Group. “As our silicon designs get ever more complex, it is critical to retain this close collaboration and reliable execution as we deliver the next wave of processing innovation on the x86 platform.”
A key to GLOBALFOUNDRIES operational agility is a model based on highly automated decision-making and “lean” manufacturing principles, called Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM). APM allows GLOBALFOUNDRIES to precisely tune manufacturing operations to align production with customer demand—all while minimizing waste and reducing cycle time, inventory, and ultimately costs.
APM will be taken to the next level with the construction of Fab 2—an estimated $4.2 billion project to build the world’s most advanced 300mm semiconductor foundry in Saratoga County, N.Y.
“When Fab 2 begins volume production in approximately 2012, it will be part of an integrated global network linked by the next generation of APM,” said Norm Armour, vice president and general manager of GLOBALFOUNDRIES Fab 2. “The next generation of APM will feature interoperable technologies across multiple fabs and the implementation of lean processes in all aspects of manufacturing, from the front end of the supply chain to the final wafers out the door of the fab.”
Armour will participate today in the annual SEMI Press Luncheon at SEMICON West, where he will present a history of the Fab 2 project and an overview of the capabilities of the new leading-edge facility, which is being designed to support 28/22nm process technologies.
While these are important tactics, opportunities for increasing efficiency, becoming more agile, and minimizing waste are often overlooked in manufacturing processes, according to Thomas Sonderman, vice president of manufacturing systems and technology at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
At SEMICON West 2009, Sonderman is calling for a renewed focus on operational agility in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, particularly in light of increased pressure to move to processes based on 450 millimeter (mm) wafers.
“The rush to 450mm suggests a lack of ideas for improving fab productivity,” Sonderman said. “At GLOBALFOUNDRIES, we see a tremendous amount of headroom left in the 300mm process. We are tapping our expertise in lean manufacturing to extend the lifecycle of the industry’s current 300mm investments, and we are investing more than $4 billion in a new, state-of-the-art 300mm fab in upstate New York because we are confident in our ability to get the most out of this technology generation.”
Sonderman will be participating in the SEMICON West Foundry Summit, a two-hour panel discussion on the market strategies, technologies, capital spending, and other strategic plans of the world's major chip foundries. He cites GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ rapid transition and time to mature yield at the 45 nanometer (nm) process node as a model for operational efficiency in the industry.
During the transition to 45nm, GLOBALFOUNDRIES achieved the fastest time to mature yield of any process in its history, while simultaneously implementing a complex new form of lithography—immersion lithography—ahead of all other semiconductor manufacturers.
Immersion lithography allows for enhanced microprocessor design definition and manufacturing consistency by placing a fluid, instead of air, between the final element of the lens of a lithographic exposure tool and the wafer.
All wafer starts in Fab 1, Module 1 have now been converted to 45nm—a process that is proving to deliver few defects, low leakage, and high performance. GLOBALFOUNDRIES and AMD recently announced the launch of a six-core processor codenamed “Istanbul,” which was manufactured using the 45 nm process. “Istanbul” is the most complex processor ever designed by AMD, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ manufacturing agility allowed AMD to deliver “Istanbul” five months ahead of schedule.
“The agility and execution of our design and engineering teams combined with the leading-edge manufacturing of GLOBALFOUNDRIES made possible an early, well-executed delivery of Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processors to customers,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of the AMD Products Group. “As our silicon designs get ever more complex, it is critical to retain this close collaboration and reliable execution as we deliver the next wave of processing innovation on the x86 platform.”
A key to GLOBALFOUNDRIES operational agility is a model based on highly automated decision-making and “lean” manufacturing principles, called Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM). APM allows GLOBALFOUNDRIES to precisely tune manufacturing operations to align production with customer demand—all while minimizing waste and reducing cycle time, inventory, and ultimately costs.
APM will be taken to the next level with the construction of Fab 2—an estimated $4.2 billion project to build the world’s most advanced 300mm semiconductor foundry in Saratoga County, N.Y.
“When Fab 2 begins volume production in approximately 2012, it will be part of an integrated global network linked by the next generation of APM,” said Norm Armour, vice president and general manager of GLOBALFOUNDRIES Fab 2. “The next generation of APM will feature interoperable technologies across multiple fabs and the implementation of lean processes in all aspects of manufacturing, from the front end of the supply chain to the final wafers out the door of the fab.”
Armour will participate today in the annual SEMI Press Luncheon at SEMICON West, where he will present a history of the Fab 2 project and an overview of the capabilities of the new leading-edge facility, which is being designed to support 28/22nm process technologies.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
SEMI World Fab Forecast reveals signs of increased investment
SAN JOSE, USA: According to the latest update of the SEMI World Fab Forecast database, spending on front-end fabs (construction and equipping) has seen a consistent quarterly decline since 2008, and on a year-over-year basis is expected to fall by 51 percent in 2009.
On a global scale, construction spending is at its lowest level in 10 years. However, the latest data from the report suggest an increase in investments for both fab construction projects and fab equipping in the second half of 2009, with the trend continuing into 2010.
In 2010, investments in fab construction projects are expected to almost double and spending on equipping fabs may increase by as much as 90 percent year-over-year from the significant declines expected in 2009, according to the report.
Investments are actually increasing in the Americas, with a total quarterly spending increasing to almost US$1 billion, mainly due to major investments announced by Intel, as the company moves forward on a planned upgrade to 32nm.
According to the report, 19 fab facilities closed in 2008, and about 35 facilities will close in 2009, though the number of closures should decline in 2010 as only 14 facilities are expected to close. Nine fabs are expected to launch operations in 2009.
Overall the trend of new facilities commencing operations has slowed since 1995, due to the fact that most new fabs are 300mm Megafabs for memory production, meaning fewer, but larger fabs are needed.
Worldwide installed capacity for 2009 is expected to decline by about 3 percent, mainly due to fab closures, however data from the World Fab Forecast show that installed capacity for 2010 could increase by about 6 percent.
Memory and logic fabs are expected to take the biggest hit in 2009, with a decline in installed capacity of five to seven percent each due to fab closures.
On a global scale, construction spending is at its lowest level in 10 years. However, the latest data from the report suggest an increase in investments for both fab construction projects and fab equipping in the second half of 2009, with the trend continuing into 2010.
In 2010, investments in fab construction projects are expected to almost double and spending on equipping fabs may increase by as much as 90 percent year-over-year from the significant declines expected in 2009, according to the report.
Investments are actually increasing in the Americas, with a total quarterly spending increasing to almost US$1 billion, mainly due to major investments announced by Intel, as the company moves forward on a planned upgrade to 32nm.
According to the report, 19 fab facilities closed in 2008, and about 35 facilities will close in 2009, though the number of closures should decline in 2010 as only 14 facilities are expected to close. Nine fabs are expected to launch operations in 2009.
Overall the trend of new facilities commencing operations has slowed since 1995, due to the fact that most new fabs are 300mm Megafabs for memory production, meaning fewer, but larger fabs are needed.
Worldwide installed capacity for 2009 is expected to decline by about 3 percent, mainly due to fab closures, however data from the World Fab Forecast show that installed capacity for 2010 could increase by about 6 percent.
Memory and logic fabs are expected to take the biggest hit in 2009, with a decline in installed capacity of five to seven percent each due to fab closures.
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Semicon equipment market to begin recovery by Oct. 2009
NEW TRIPOLI, USA: The semiconductor equipment market will begin its recovery by October 2009 based on proprietary leading indicators, according to the report: “The Global Market for Equipment and Materials for IC Manufacturing,” recently published by The Information Network.
“Our proprietary leading indicators, which determine inflection points in economic activity and which we utilize to show turning points in semiconductor equipment sales have turned positive, indicating that an upturn in equipment sales will begin by October ,” noted Dr. Robert N. Castellano, president of The Information Network. “We have been using these indicators since 2000 and they have proven to be highly quantitative metrics in every forecast we have given, and in nearly every given year we have not had to change our forecast midstream. We do not give forecasts in tenths of percentages only to change them two months later.”
We successfully predicted in our release of May 27 that Mainland China’s cross-straits investment in Taiwan will help the island country to survive the global crisis and at the same time help fix its own IC market. Taiwan has now reversed its stance and is considering allowing 300mm fabs in China. These actions will spur the equipment market in China, which has historically been utilizing refurbished 200mm equipment in its fabs.
“Objective, concrete evidence comes from the positive activity in our proprietary leading indicators in the US. Both our long and short indicators turned up in late 2008, pointing to a business recovery cycle and giving visibility that the days of the recession are numbered,” added Dr. Castellano.
As the recession eases, companies and consumers will unleash pent-up demand and make the electronic purchases driving the semiconductor market, which has already turned positive.
“Our proprietary leading indicators, which determine inflection points in economic activity and which we utilize to show turning points in semiconductor equipment sales have turned positive, indicating that an upturn in equipment sales will begin by October ,” noted Dr. Robert N. Castellano, president of The Information Network. “We have been using these indicators since 2000 and they have proven to be highly quantitative metrics in every forecast we have given, and in nearly every given year we have not had to change our forecast midstream. We do not give forecasts in tenths of percentages only to change them two months later.”
We successfully predicted in our release of May 27 that Mainland China’s cross-straits investment in Taiwan will help the island country to survive the global crisis and at the same time help fix its own IC market. Taiwan has now reversed its stance and is considering allowing 300mm fabs in China. These actions will spur the equipment market in China, which has historically been utilizing refurbished 200mm equipment in its fabs.
“Objective, concrete evidence comes from the positive activity in our proprietary leading indicators in the US. Both our long and short indicators turned up in late 2008, pointing to a business recovery cycle and giving visibility that the days of the recession are numbered,” added Dr. Castellano.
As the recession eases, companies and consumers will unleash pent-up demand and make the electronic purchases driving the semiconductor market, which has already turned positive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
