INDUSTRY NEWS

Pilot line set for Crolles

STMicroelectronics and Philips Semiconductors plan to spend $700 million to build a 300-mm. wafer pilot line in Crolles, France. Expected to open in 2002, the new line will have an initial capacity of 1000 wafers per week with the potential to process 2000 wafers weekly. The two manufacturers have been working cooperatively since signing an agreement in 1992. The companies have codeveloped 0.18-µm logic CMOS technology at STMicroelectronics' fab in Crolles, the site of the new pilot line. They will work on processes for chips with geometries of 0.12 µm and lower.

Pacts promise tool advances

The SEZ Group will deliver two spin processors to Semiconductor300, the joint venture between Infineon Technologies and Motorola, as part of two new joint development agreements. Spin processor Models 303 and 304 will be installed at the Semiconductor300 site in Dresden, Germany, in order to refine production of 0.18-µm chips on 300-mm wafers. The first project will use the 303 to evaluate cleaning and etch applications. Engineers will rate tool performance on the basis of uniformity, defect density data, and electrical data. In the second project engineers will use the 304 to evaluate the effectiveness of the Windows NT platform in a fully automated fab. SEZ says the original joint program was established to improve the performance of the single-wafer Model 303 for 300-mm wafers. The new programs are designed to improve specifications for sub-0.24-µm processes within 12 months of tool acceptance. Additional goals are to improve MTBF rates and optimize etch uniformity.

In related news, Semiconductor300 selected the SEZ Group as one of its top 10 equipment suppliers for 1999. SEZ was selected on the basis of criteria such as cost, tool quality, tool performance, service, support, and market position.

Infineon transfers technology

ProMOS, the Tawanese chipmaker, will use will use advanced 300-mm manufacturing technology from Infineon under the terms of a new agreement. ProMOS will install the technology in an empty cleanroom at its site in Hsinchu. The chipmaker, a joint venture between Munich-based Infineon and Mosel Vitelic, will produce advanced memory devices. The pact permits ProMOS to make and sell DRAMs using Infineon's 0.17- , 0.14- , and 0.12-µm processes based on 200- and 300-mm technology. The agreement extends the coverage established in the original 1997 transfer agreement covering basic process technologies.

Pod passes tool test

Tests conducted at Semiconductor300 show that a front-end opening pod, or FOUP, from Incam Solutions could effectively replace large cassettes for single test wafers, according to the French vendor. Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and International Sematech evaluated Incam's FOUP for One (FFO) wafer carrier on selected process, metrology, and 300-mm process tools. Grenoble-based Incam says the results indicate that the single-wafer carrier is as reliable as most 25-wafer FOUPs. The test was conducted under a Semiconductor Equipment Assessment project. Incam claims that chipmakers using FFO can lessen their use of 300-mm test wafers.

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