INDUSTRY NEWS

Asia

'World's largest fab' opens

Tapping a traditional Chinese dragon dance as an opening ceremony, TSMC unveiled what it claims to be the largest single fab in the world on March 30. Fab 6 is located in the Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park in southern Taiwan. The cleanroom measures 190,000 sq ft. At full capacity, the clean area will house approximately 1000 sets of manufacturing tools and employ approximately 2000 people. By the end of this year Fab 6 will be able to produce 32,000 wafers per month. TSMC also will install equipment later this year for use in a 300-mm pilot line, which will have a capacity of 4500 wafers per month. Eventually, the chipmaker will transfer the 12-in.-qualified processes to Fab 12, its first full-production 300-mm line.

The fab's large Class 100 ballroom is equipped with Class 0.1 SMIF minienvironments for processing 8-in. wafers using advanced CMOS technology. TSMC will initially manufacture chips with 0.25-µm linewidths and shift to 0.10-µm processes at an unspecified date. The equipment set includes all-scanner lithography systems for rapid exposure of large reticles with extremely fine grains, TSMC says. The chipmaker will also use advanced manufacturing techniques at the fab. These include shallow trench isolation, titanium cobalt silicide technology, and low-k dielectrics. The fab will make digital logic, mixed-signal logic, standard, and embedded memory microchips.

DPI adds mask lines

Responding to market demand in Asia, DuPont Photomasks (DPI) has expanded its production capacity with the addition of four manufacturing lines in the region. DPI built a new photomask plant in Singapore and installed two of the lines there. The supplier installed another line at a joint venture facility in Shanghai and a fourth line at its existing plant in Ichon, South Korea. DPI spent a total of $40 million on the expansion. The company opened its first Asian facility in South Korea in 1991. The region now gives DPI 28% of its total revenue, the company reports, adding that the green-field Singapore plant is the most advanced mask production site in Southeast Asia. The facility will house advanced laser and high-speed electron-beam generators as well as advanced mask inspection, metrology, and repair equipment. DPI has 12 mask plants around the world.

Photronics buys mask vendor

Florida-based Photronics has acquired a majority stake in Precision Semiconductor Mask Corp. (PSMC) of Taiwan. PSMC, a photomask supplier qualified at the foundries TSMC and UMC, will become a subsidiary of Photronics. Located in Hsinchu Science Park, the plant houses a 21,600-sq-ft Class 1 cleanroom and employs approximately 145. Photronics says it plans to add an Alta 3500 system later this year to a tool set that includes Etec and Hitachi mask-writing systems. The Asian market for photomasks is predicted to exceed $550 million in 2000, the company claims.

Taiwan firm powers up

Powerchip Semiconductor, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of DRAMs and other semiconductors, will spend approximately $1.6 billion to build a fab in Hsinchu. The chipmaker will break ground in the third quarter of this year for the plant, which has a two-year construction schedule. The facility will have an initial capacity of 15,000 to 20,000 12-in. wafers per month, and the factory's design will enable Powerchip to expand production to 30,000 wafers per month. To cope with uncertainty in demand, the manufacturer may install both 8- and 12-in. lines. According to Powerchip, the global market for DRAMs is forecast to grow at a 34% CAGR between 1999 and 2003 to reach a total value of approximately $56.6 billion.

Europe

France explores extreme UV

The Commissariat à Énergie Atomique, France's atomic energy agency, has launched a program to explore extreme UV lithography. Called Preuve, the R&D program taps the expertise of three government entities: the Department of Advanced Technologies, the Department of Matter Sciences, and the Department of Military Applications. Laboratories at the universities of Aix- Marseille and Orléans are also participating. Industrial participants include the Sagem Group, Seso, and Sopra. The parties will work on developing extreme-UV radiation sources, optics adapted to the 13-nm wavelength, lithography masks, and instrumentation. Information: +33 1 40561488 or 312/222-1235; fax, +33 1 40562892 or 312/222-1237.

MicroHome | Search | Current Issue | MicroArchives
Buyers Guide | Subscribe to MICRO