Consolidation changing the foundry landscape

USA: Change is on the horizon. Advanced Technology Investment Company LLC (ATIC) and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Chartered) have entered into a definitive agreement whereby ATIC will acquire Chartered. What does this mean?

Semico does not think that TSMC will be ‘dethroned’ as the leading foundry but it does mean that the number two spot is definitely up for grabs. Semico’s data indicates that by 2011, the combined GlobalFoundries/Chartered company will out pace UMC in terms of advanced capacity available for production.Source: Semico Research

Semicon foundries catching up after poor Q1

NEW TRIPOLI, USA: Semiconductor capacity utilization can give an indication of not only the state of the semiconductor industry but also prospects for the semiconductor equipment markets, according to the report “The Global Market for Equipment and Materials for IC Manufacturing,” recently published by The Information Network.

Because of the downturn in the overall economy in 2009, capacity utilization -– the number of semiconductors made as a ratio to the plant (fab) capacity -- dropped precipitously in Q1 2009 to 55.6 percent from 89.7 percent in Q1 2008, according to SICAS statistics from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

“Clearly semiconductor manufacturers would not be building new fabs at $3 each to expand capacity when more than 40 percent of their plants are idle. Thus, equipment purchases by these manufacturers would not be for capacity expansion but for new technology usually planned several months out, as it can take up to a year for a company to make a purchase, have the equipment installed, qualified, and then ramped for production,” noted Dr. Robert Castellano, President of The Information Network.

In Q2 2009, as the economy improved and these companies sold off excess inventory, capacity utilization jumped to 76.7 percent. In the chart below, we call this row “actual” capacity utilization as reported by SICAS.Source: The Information Network

Closer examination shows that total semiconductor fab capacity dropped 12.4 percent between Q2 2008 and Q2 2009 as a result of 20 fab closures in 2009. If we calculate capacity utilization based on capacity for Q2 2008 (before the fab closures) and actual chip production in Q2 2009, capacity utilization would be only 67.2 percent in Q2 up from 51.5 percent in Q1 based on capacity in Q1 2008 and actual production in Q1 2009. In the chart, we call this “normalized” capacity utilization.

Obviously, capacity expansion is the furthest thing on semiconductor manufacturer’s minds in 2009. That leaves us with technology expansion. Again looking deeper into the capacity data, if we look at the leading-edge semiconductors, those made with dimension less than 80 nanometers, “actual” capacity utilization rose from 69.9 percent in Q1 2009 to 90.8 percent in Q2 2009.

For these advanced chips, capacity increased 0.7 percent between Q2 2008 and Q2 2009. The capacity utilization of only 69.9 percent in Q1 2009 needs further interpretation. If we again compare capacity in Q1 2008 with actual production in Q1 2009, “normalized” capacity utilization would be 85.6 percent. So, capacity utilization in Q2 2009 only increased 5.2 percent.

We forecast the semiconductor equipment market will drop 46 percent in 2009. What’s the basis of our forecast? Semiconductor manufacturers are bringing up the capacity utilization in the overall semiconductor market, but equipment is almost totally being purchased for technology expansion at the 80nm and below feature sizes, and that expansion so far this year is only 5.2 percent for leading-edge semiconductors.

The capacity for the leading edge semiconductors represented 42 percent of the total capacity in Q2 2009.

Foundries are a different story. Our semiconductor forecast growth for full year 2009 will be minus 17 percent. We expect the foundry sector to underperform the semiconductor market by 2 or 3 percentage points, thus down 19 percent or 20 percent from 2009. Why? In Q1 2009, the semiconductor market dropped 30 percent year over year. However, the foundry sector dropped more than 50 percent.

Foundry capacity, both “actual” and “normalized”, grew 66 percent and 56.5 percent, respectively, between Q1 and Q2 2009.

“They are catching up for a dismal Q1 and hence they will only underperform the overall semiconductor market by 2 to 3 percent,” added Dr. Castellano.

Intersil, Tower sign MoU for co-development and manufacturing of next-gen power management platform

MILPITAS, USA & MIGDAL HA’EMEK, ISRAEL: Intersil Corp., a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, and Tower Semiconductor Ltd, a leading global specialty foundry, announced they will develop a new high-performance power management specialty process technology platform.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by the companies, which shall be followed by a formal agreement.

The multi-year agreement will combine Tower’s technology expertise with Intersil’s design and process technology capabilities to provide Intersil with a powerful and innovative platform, accelerating its power management product growth to address next-generation requirements.

Intersil will utilize the platform to manufacture its leading-edge power ICs in Tower’s state-of-the-art 200mm facility in Migdal Ha’emek, Israel.

According to Gartner’s Forecast for Power Management ICs Worldwide, 2007-2012, power management devices will continue to be the fastest growth segment of any analog IC category. iSuppli reports the power management IC market is expected to grow from $10.3 billion in 2009 to $14.6 billion in 2013, a CAGR of 9.1 percent.

Intersil already has an established relationship with Jazz Semiconductor, Tower’s wholly owned subsidiary, utilizing previous generation power management platforms. This new collaboration will enable further engineering relationships across a wide set of process technologies that could bring additional business to both companies.

Tower’s bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) power process offering is highly modular and includes a unique Y-Flash zero mask adder non-volatile memory (NVM) solution.

Combined with Intersil’s power management design and process capabilities, this new process will go beyond its base platform to specifically address the requirements of multiple Intersil product families including digital power, PWM controllers and PMICs for a broad set of end user markets such as consumer, computing, communications, industrial and automotive.

"We are very pleased to extend our long-standing partnership to jointly develop a robust and innovative power management platform to address the next-generation needs of power products," said Sagar Pushpala, Senior Vice President Worldwide Operations and Technology, at Intersil.

"Tower provides best-in-class BCD process technology which enables Intersil to offer highly-differentiated power management and non-volatile memory solutions."

Commenting on the signing of the MOU, Russell Ellwanger, Tower CEO, said: "Intersil offers quality, high-performance analog ICs and we are excited that a proven leader in power management has chosen us as their partner and placed their trust in our technology and roadmap to co-develop and manufacture their next-generation power platform.

"Together, we will enable faster design cycles and cost-effective designs which will be very advantageous for Intersil’s customers. We look forward to a fruitful and long-term relationship."

Applied Materials improves operating performance

SANTA CLARA, USA: Applied Materials Inc. reported results for its third fiscal quarter ended July 26, 2009. Net sales were $1.13 billion, and the GAAP net loss was $55 million, or $0.04 per share. The company also reported a non-GAAP net loss for the period of $2 million, or breakeven per share.

“In a difficult environment, Applied improved its operating performance and generated significant cash flow while making substantial investments in new technologies for next-generation semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and solar panels,” said Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO.

New orders for the quarter totaled $1.07 billion. Regional distribution was: Southeast Asia and China 25 percent, Taiwan 24 percent, Japan 14 percent, North America 14 percent, Europe 12 percent, and Korea 11 percent.

Within the Silicon Systems Group (SSG), new order composition was: foundry 42 percent, DRAM 25 percent, logic and other 18 percent, and flash 15 percent. Backlog for the company as of the end of the quarter was $2.95 billion, down from $3.16 billion in the previous quarter.

TSMC board's resolutions -- $50mn approved for solar

HSINCHU, TAIWAN: TSMC held a meeting of the Board of Directors, which passed the following resolutions:
1. Appointed L.C. Tu as Vice President of Human Resources; Transferred P.H. Chang to serve as Vice President of Materials Management and Risk Management.

2. Approved capital appropriations of $1,116.8 million to expand 45nm process capacity and install 32nm process capacity.

3. Approved the appropriation of $50 million for possible use in investment in solar energy-related areas.

4. Approved semi-annual financial statements for the first half of 2009. Consolidated revenue for the January-June period was NT$113.712 billion, and net income was NT$25.933 billion.

TSMC's July 2009 net sales rises 17.5 percent

HSINCHU, TAIWAN: TSMC announced its net sales for July 2009: on an unconsolidated basis, net sales were approximately NT$30.28 billion, an increase of 17.5 percent over June 2009 and a decrease of 1.9 percent from July 2008.

However, revenues for January through July 2009 totaled NT$139.84 billion, a decrease of 30.7 percent compared to the same period in 2008.

On a consolidated basis, net sales for July 2009 were approximately NT$ 31.17 billion, an increase of 17.6 percent over June 2009 and a decrease of 2.0 percent from July 2008.

Revenues for January through July 2009 totaled NT$144.89 billion, a decrease of 30.2 percent compared to the same period in 2008.

GlobalFoundries in strategic customer engagement with STMicroelectronics

SUNNYVALE, USA: GLOBALFOUNDRIES announced a strategic customer relationship with STMicroelectronics.

One of the world’s leading suppliers of semiconductor solutions, ST will partner with GLOBALFOUNDRIES to produce products based on 40nm Low Power (LP) bulk silicon technology.

The 40nm LP process is ideal for the next generation of wireless applications, handheld devices, and consumer electronics, which require excellent performance and long battery life. First tape out and production of ST products by GLOBALFOUNDRIES is planned to start in 2010.

“When we launched GLOBALFOUNDRIES, our long-term vision was to bring a new business model to the foundry market and to become the partner of choice for the largest and most innovative semiconductor design and manufacturing companies,” said Doug Grose, Chief Executive Officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

“With the addition of an industry-leader in low-power technology like STMicroelectronics we now begin to deliver on this vision. We look forward to harnessing our full capabilities for ST to provide best-in-class service in bringing their 40nm design innovation to life in high volumes and at mature yields.”

“To ensure ample capacity for our customer/partners at the leading-edge of low-power design, ST needs an agile and high-performance manufacturing partner that can adapt to our changing needs,” said Jean-Marc Chery, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, STMicroelectronics.

“With a strong commitment to manufacturing and technology excellence at the leading-edge, we believe GLOBALFOUNDRIES is an excellent partner to collaborate on low-power design innovation in 2010 and beyond.”

GLOBALFOUNDRIES production is currently centered at a state-of-the-art 300mm manufacturing campus in Dresden, Germany –- otherwise known as Fab 1. Consistently ranked as one of the top fabs in the industry, Fab 1 has a proven track record of ramping leading-edge technologies at high-volume and mature yields, most recently evidenced on a seamless ramp of 45nm process technology.

In July 2009, GLOBALFOUNDRIES also broke ground on Fab 2, a $4.2B wafer manufacturing facility in Malta, N.Y. Once complete, Fab 2 is expected to be the most advanced semiconductor foundry in the world.

Chip fab obsolescence compounds foundry misery

EL SEGUNDO, USA: As if the massive downturn in global revenue weren’t enough, the global semiconductor pure-play foundry industry also is undergoing a period of wrenching changes, according to iSuppli Corp.

For 2009, the global pure-play foundry business is expected to underperform the total semiconductor industry. The current forecast is for the pure-play foundry industry to experience a 25.2 percent contraction in global revenue in 2009, while the total semiconductor industry will experience a 23 percent decline.

“Overall, 2009 will go down in the history books as one of the most difficult years ever experienced by the global semiconductor and foundry industries,” said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst for semiconductor manufacturing at iSuppli.

“Unlike previous industry downturns, where supply and demand have driven upturns and downturns, the debacle in 2009 can be mainly attributed to external economic influences on the semiconductor industry that will take years from which to recover.”

Foundry reshuffle
Beyond the weak economic industry and economic conditions, the pure-play foundry industry is going through a fundamental reconfiguration that is affecting every aspect of the business.

This reshuffle has its origins in the trend of semiconductor manufacturing specialization and aggregation of demand. With the high cost of transitioning to more advanced semiconductor production technologies, more semiconductor suppliers have chosen to support technology development platforms through the use of third-party foundry manufacturing to develop differentiation through unique chip designs.

Chip suppliers also are reducing their product portfolios in order to become more responsive to changing market conditions. The economics of a company maintaining multiple manufacturing facilities to produce a broad base of products are clearly not practical when competing with highly focused manufacturers.

Gaining maturity
This change in business realities is forcing semiconductor manufacturers to retire older facilities at a faster rate.

“Historically, when semiconductor suppliers transitioned to new technologies, they maintained their mature factories for cost-effective manufacturing of older technology,” Jelinek said. “Today, as competitors transition mature technology to newer manufacturing platforms, cost pressures are making older manufacturing facilities uncompetitive to operate.”

In North America, the lifecycle for mature manufacturing facilities has reached its twilight. In Europe and Japan, companies are struggling with the social economic impact of shuttering facilities that are no longer competitive. All of this is being accelerated by favorable economic policies toward manufacturing in Asian countries.

As these policies continue to gain favor, companies will continue to transition manufacturing to these more cost-effective locations.

With capacity increases and outsourcing of semiconductor manufacturing concentrated on a smaller group of companies in low-cost production regions, the foundry industry is unlikely to mount a major recovery anytime soon.

TSMC enhances 0.13-micron family

HSINCHU, TAIWAN: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd has released an enhanced version of its 0.13-micron process to benefit customers' cost and competition and to enable the integration of power management functions.

The 0.13-micron/0.11-micron family now includes a slim standard cell, SRAM and I/O with substantial area reduction and the 0.13-micron process also adopts LD-MOS (5V~20V) on RF platforms to enable analog and power management applications. The slim platform is available in the third quarter this year while the LD-MOS on RF platforms will be available in Q4 this year.

To meet the ever shrinking requirements for basic consumer and RF applications, the slim platform I/O area achieves a 30% reduction and SRAM bit cells demonstrate a 25% reduction when compared with traditional offerings. Furthermore, a 0.13-micron LD-MOS device built upon a RF platform enables SOC designs with power management functionality.

"This is another example of how TSMC is committed to enabling more efficient SoC design of wireless, consumer and communications devices using 0.13-micron process technology," said Dr. Simon Wang, senior director of Advanced Technology Business Division. "The result of these enhancements will spawn the next generation of innovation," he said.

TSMC's investment in R&D for technology and IP portfolios within the 0.13-micron/0.11-micron family now delivers a true 5V with Copper interconnect for the integration of analog, high-speed DSP, power management and watt-scale class-D amplification.

Along with new features development for system-on-chip design, TSMC also offers a shrunken path to enhance customer's competitiveness including sub-node and slim technology platform.

RFMD announces GaN foundry services

BOSTON, USA: RF Micro Devices Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance semiconductor components, announced the company has formed a gallium nitride (GaN) Foundry Services business unit to supply high-reliability, high-performance and price-competitive GaN semiconductor technology into multiple RF power markets.

The RFMD GaN Foundry Services business unit will leverage the company's industry leadership in gallium arsenide (GaAs) manufacturing capacity and cycle times, as well as a range of new customer services, to drive shorter time-to-market and minimize time between initial wafer order and final delivery.

RFMD is the industry's leading manufacturer of GaAs compound semiconductors. RFMD's GaN manufacturing is interchangeable with its GaAs manufacturing and directly benefits from the scale and demonstrated expertise of RFMD's industry-leading wafer fabrication capability.

Bob Van Buskirk, president of RFMD's Multi-Market Products Group, said: "RFMD's Foundry Services business unit is providing GaN foundry customers access to RFMD's industry-leading compound semiconductor technology and production facility and the many benefits of RFMD's scale manufacturing, including reliability, uniformity, cycle time and quality. RFMD GaN is a breakthrough technology that can change the RF power component industry as a result of its superior linearity, bandwidth and RF power density. Additionally, RFMD GaN is a "green" technology enabling higher efficiencies than previously possible, thereby requiring less power consumption to achieve similar performance or superior performance at similar power consumption levels."

RFMD's offering of GaN foundry services is distinctive in the industry because RFMD operates the industry's largest GaAs fabrication facility (fab) and has supplied its customers billions of high-reliability, high-quality compound semiconductor based RF components.

By utilizing its existing, high-volume manufacturing assets, RFMD is able to deliver foundry customers GaN technology with predictable, industry-leading reliability and increased uniformity. RFMD offers industry-leading cycle times and estimates its GaN cycle times through its wafer fab are typically 30-40% faster than its competition.

Also, by leveraging RFMD's deep knowledge of semiconductor process models to accurately predict product performance, RFMD's Foundry Services business unit can lower customer development costs by reducing the number of prototype runs necessary to meet customer specifications.

Customer applications expected to benefit from RFMD GaN include commercial and defense power applications including wireless infrastructure, CATV line amplifiers, broadband communication, power amplifiers and various defense radar systems.

Additionally, RFMD's Foundry Services customers gain access to a seasoned Foundry Services support team with first-hand knowledge of foundry customers' expectations and requirements. RFMD's Foundry Services support team combines more than 50 years of foundry services experience, both as foundry customers and foundry suppliers.

Additionally, RFMD's Foundry Services support team has implemented a full set of services intended to minimize the total time from order entry to customer delivery. Services include simulation models that enable a high probability of initial success and business processes that enable little or no queue time.

RFMD GaN is a next-generation compound semiconductor technology that delivers much higher power density and breakdown voltage than competing technologies and is ideally suited for very high performance power devices.

Typical operating characteristics of RFMD GaN include operating voltages of 48 (or 65) volts, power density of 6 to 8 watts/mm, FTs of 11 GHz and F max of 18 GHz and MTTF greater than 100M hours at 150 degrees C channel operating temperature.

Foundry semiconductor market to rise in Q2

EL SEGUNDO, USA: After three quarters of contraction, the pure-play foundry semiconductor manufacturing industry will enjoy robust growth in the second quarter—but how long will the good times last?

Global revenue for pure-play foundries, i.e., companies dedicated to producing semiconductors on behalf of other chipmakers, is set to rise to $3.6 billion in the second quarter, up 59.3 percent from $2.2 billion in the first. The increase follows a 1.8 percent sequential decrease in the third quarter of 2008, a 32.3 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 38.2 percent plunge in the first quarter of 2009.

“The foundry market in the second quarter is benefitting from both a major reduction in semiconductor inventories throughout the electronics supply chain and innovative new designs requiring innovative technology,” said Len Jelinek, director and principal analyst, semiconductor manufacturing, for iSuppli Corp. “However, while this growth will come as a relief to the foundries, it will not result in 2009 being a growth year for the foundry industry. Sustainable semiconductor growth will come only when the global economy recovers and consumers return to more normal patterns of purchases.”

For all of 2009, the pure-play foundry market will underperform the overall semiconductor industry, with foundries suffering a revenue decline of 26.5 percent.

Q1 catastrophe
Global pure-play foundry revenue in the first quarter of 2009 fell by 57.7 percent from $5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2008.

The foundry market’s disastrous performance in the first quarter was reflected in the weak results of the Top-10 players, nine of which suffered double-digit percentage declines in revenue, both on a sequential and a year-over-year basis.

The table presents iSuppli’s ranking of the world’s Top-10 pure-play foundries in the first quarter.

iSuppli Table: Worldwide Pure-Play Foundry Ranking for Q1 2009 (Ranking by Revenue in Millions of US Dollars)Source: iSuppli, June 2009

The best performers among the Top-10 were Chartered Semiconductor and the newly-combined Tower Semiconductor Ltd. and Jazz Semiconductor Inc.

No.-3 ranked Chartered managed to outperform the overall foundry market by limiting its year-over-year sales decline to 43.4 percent. Company market share increased to 11.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, up 2.8 points from 8.5 percent during the same period in 2008.

Tower’s revenue remained flat compared to a year earlier, allowing the company to expand its share by 1.5 points to 2.6 percent, up from 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

“Chartered’s and Tower’s relatively strong performances in the first quarter were due to acquisitions that expanded their revenue, rather than organic growth,” Jelinek said.

Chartered purchased an 8-inch manufacturing facility previously operated by Hitachi Semiconductor, while Tower acquired Jazz.

“Although 2009 will continue to be a challenging year for pure-play foundries, those companies that took aggressive actions to strategically prepare for the future in the second half of 2008 will emerge with increased market share and financial strength,” Jelinek said.

IMEC expands partnership with TSMC

LEUVEN, BELGIUM: IMEC, Europe’s leading independent nanoelectronics research center on leading-edge process technology for the next generations of IC manufacturing, has signed a new and expanded research agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s leading semiconductor foundry. TSMC will also base its extended European research efforts at the IMEC premises.

Under the agreement, TSMC extends its collaboration with IMEC as a core partner which dates back from 2005. Within IMEC’s core partner program the world-leading foundries, IDMs, fabless and fablite companies, and material and equipment suppliers collaborate on research and development, for 22nm and beyond, IC process technologies.

As part of TSMC’s global effort to strongly expand its R&D, including an expansion of research in Europe, TSMC decided to base its European R&D at the IMEC facilities. In this way, TSMC can benefit from IMEC’s state-of-the-art clean room infrastructure which is currently been expanded to house the most advanced –often preproduction- semiconductor manufacturing tools, allowing to research technologies ahead of industrial needs. IMEC and its members can benefit from TSMC’s broad-based technology roadmap and platform expertise, customers, suppliers, and ecosystem partners.

“This agreement with TSMC represents an extension of our long-term strategic and fruitful partnership. We are proud that TSMC joins forces with IMEC to strengthen their global R&D. This proves the industrial importance of our semiconductor scaling research. We are confident that IMEC’s joint research model will contribute to TSMC’s approach ‘collaborate to innovate’;” said Luc Van den hove, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of IMEC.

“TSMC strives for innovation through collaboration to provide competitive technology and value to its customers. The expansion of the partnership between IMEC and TSMC underscores TSMC's commitment to increasing R&D for the future.” said Jack Sun, vice president of R&D at TSMC.

UMC to acquire He Jian foundry in China

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: United Microelectronics Corp. recently convened its 19th session, 10th term of its Board of Directors meeting. During the meeting, its board approved to propose the acquisition by UMC of the holding company of He Jian Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. for resolution at the annual shareholders meeting.

Established in late 2001 as a semiconductor foundry business, He Jian operates an 8-inch fab in Suzhou, China with a monthly capacity of 41,000 wafers, He Jian has made significant inroads into the China market and has established strong relationships with local companies across the semiconductor supply chain. He Jian was profitable from 2005 to 2007 and its operating performance and financial condition remain promising.

UMC's core business has been in semiconductor foundry for many years. In order to facilitate UMC's global business reach beyond its current markets, to help expedite business growth, to increase profitability, to enhance shareholder value and to increase UMC's business competitiveness, UMC believes that a production base in China is key.

During the past six months, the global semiconductor market suffered in the significant financial crisis that led to a worldwide economic downturn. The net value and market value of many semiconductor companies were negatively impacted. Conversely, China's market was relatively strong during this period, attracting many customers that preferred the option of local production.

UMC viewed these circumstances as an opportunity to invigorate itself towards long-term growth. After considering the required manpower, capital and time required to build a new fab, which would exceed one year, UMC proposed the Acquisition. In addition to realizing the value of the 15 percent ownership interest in the indirect holding company of He Jian held in trust for UMC and promoting its shareholders' interest, UMC could acquire a fully built, fully staffed and fully operational production base at an attractive price.
UMC further anticipates that, by focusing on customer satisfaction, the strong foundation established by He Jian in China will lead to further gains in market share. For He Jian, as an independently operated semiconductor foundry company, the Acquisition is expected to accelerate market penetration and increase profitability as a result of being incorporated into UMC's world-class operations.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement governing the Acquisition, holders of shares of the holding company that indirectly own He Jian, but excluding the 15% ownership interest held in trust for UMC, are entitled to receive an aggregate consideration of approximately US$285 million. These holders may elect to receive payment in the form of cash or an equivalent value of UMC common stock or American Depositary Shares ("ADS"). The basis of the number of shares to be delivered will be calculated by using the arithmetic average closing value of UMC's common shares and ADSs during the 6-month period prior to, but excluding, April 29, 2009, the date of the Board of Directors' meeting.

Consummation of the Acquisition is subject to approvals from governmental authorities, the passage of appropriate resolutions of the shareholders of UMC and the holding company of He Jian and certain other customary conditions.

After the consummation of the Acquisition, UMC plans to integrate resources, reduce operating costs, and expand business scale, as well as to rapidly shorten the time required for establishing a production base in China. With China's current market still growing and the eventual overall semiconductor industry recovery, UMC expects to expand the potential to grow its long-term revenue and earnings. The expanded international presence of UMC will also enhance its global competitiveness in the rapidly developing semiconductor industry.

Nomura International (Hong Kong) Ltd, Taipei Branch, is the sole financial advisor to UMC on the acquisition.

Taiwan foundry selects ASM for High-k ALD

ALMERE, THE NETHERLANDS: ASM International N.V. announced that a Taiwanese foundry has selected ASM's Pulsar atomic layer deposition (ALD) tool for volume manufacturing of its 28nm node high-k gate dielectric process.

Additionally, the foundry will pursue process development activity with ASM for their advanced generation high-k gates. ASM will deliver additional Pulsar process modules during the second quarter of 2009 for the advanced node development program. The foundry has worked with ASM's ALD high-k and metal gate equipment over the past four years to develop its high-k gate process, which utilizes hafnium-based materials.

"Achieving a successful high-k manufacturing process for the 28 nm node is a testament to ASM's ability to integrate new materials into manufacturing," said Glen Wilk, business unit manager for transistor products at ASM. "Having qualified our high-k process demonstrates its readiness for manufacturing at the 28nm node, and we look forward to advanced developments that extend those same benefits to future nodes."

ASM's Pulsar was the first tool to be used in volume manufacturing of high-k gates, starting at the 45 nm node and now that lead is extending to the 28nm node. ASM's high-k gate films include multiple hafnium based oxides, with aluminum oxide and lanthanum oxide available as high-k cap layers for metal electrode work function tuning.