Infineon Technologies and Nanya Technology will collaborate on the development of advanced 90- and 70-nm production technologies for 300-mm wafers. Under the terms of a new agreement, Munich-based Infineon and Taiwan-based Nanya will begin processing wafers in a new plant by next year. The jointly operated fab will be located in Taoyuen, Taiwan. By the second half of 2004, the partners expect to process approximately 20,000 wafers per month in the first stage of production at the site. As another part of the pact, the companies will share development costs for 90- and 70-nm processes beginning in October 2002. They will conduct the work at Infineon's plant in Dresden, Germany.

Production of 90-nm chips on 300-mm wafers will begin at the joint plant at the end of 2003. The partners also plan to use the 90-nm technology on 200-mm wafers. The agreement calls for Infineon to license its advanced DRAM trench technology for 300-mm wafers to Nanya.

SEZ Group says its new 300-mm applications lab in Phoenix will provide customers with an extensive range of wafer-cleaning testing capabilities. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, SEZ specializes in single-wafer spin-process cleaning. Stocked with spin-process gear and metrology equipment, the 3000-sq-ft lab is the first SEZ facility of its kind in the United States. The lab tests customer wafers for stress relief, polymer removal, and wafer thinning at the facility. Running three to four demonstrations per week, the lab also offers backside film removal as well as backside and bevel cleaning for copper decontamination. In addition, the facility provides frontside polymer cleaning for metal lines, via holes, and copper dual-damascene processes.

The lab's 1253-sq-ft Class 10 cleanroom houses 20 pieces of process equipment, the company says. In addition to its own spin processors, the tool lineup includes Axcelis 200ES ashers and metrology equipment from FEI, Philips, KLA-Tencor, ADE, Nikon, and Veeco. SEZ plans to add 300-mm wafer wet benches in the near future.

An unnamed European manufacturer of DRAMs has purchased two FusionPS3 photostabilizers from Axcelis Technologies, the supplier announced. The customer will use the systems to improve process control in etch and high-dose implant applications on its 300-mm line. The design of the Fusion tool permits wafer-handling and auxiliary service modules to operate side by side to enable simultaneous processing of different recipes. Photostabilization of resists before etch processing begins can improve CD control and resist-layer etch selectivity, the company says.

With a traditional topping-off ceremony, a Singapore joint venture began preparations to start production at its new 300-mm fab. UMCi held the ceremony to mark installation of the roof on the plant at the Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park in Singapore. The partners in the venture are UMC, Infineon Technologies, and EDBI, a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board. UMCi says it plans to install equipment in January 2003 and begin production during the second quarter of the same year. The partners will invest approximately $3.6 billion in the fab, which will process approximately 40,000 wafers per month at full capacity. The fab will specialize in manufacturing large die–size SOC devices using UMC's 130- and 90-nm copper/low-k technologies.