INDUSTRY NEWS

300-mm Imperative

IMEC building cleanroom

IMEC says a new cleanroom under construction will further the goals of the institute's 300-mm-wafer research initiative. Construction of the 7260-sq-ft facility was set to begin in February. It will be located next to IMEC's existing facilities in Leuven, Belgium. The independent research center expects the work to be completed in approximately 18 months, and IMEC plans to open the facility in mid-2005. The project will cost a total of approximately $91 million, nearly $40 million of which are funds provided by the Flemish regional government.

IMEC will use the new facility to explore issues addressed in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. Research will focus on extreme-UV lithography, new materials, advanced devices, and interconnects. "This 300-mm research facility will allow us to fulfill the requests by the industry to perform world-class research on the most advanced process steps, materials, and devices for the sub-45-nm node and around, above, and beside CMOS," says Gilbert Declerck, IMEC's president and CEO.

Tool segment to gear up

Countering the overall downward sales trend in process tools, sales of 300-mm front-end equipment will grow in 2003, a market research firm asserts. In a new report, The Information Network of New Tripoli, PA, predicts 300-mm process gear revenues will reach $7.8 billion this year. The 2003 figure represents 45.3% of the entire front-end tool market. In 2002 the market for dedicated 300-mm tools grew 12% to $5.7 billion, while the total market value of front-end tool revenues declined 25%, notes the report, titled 300-mm/Copper/Low-k Convergence: Timing, Trends, Issues, Market Analysis.

The report forecasts the 300-mm tool market to reach $12.3 billion in 2004. In 2002, revenues from 300-mm tools grew to 38% of the total front-end equipment market, the report notes. The market encompasses CMP, deposition, etch, implant, lithography, metrology, resist track, RTP/diffusion, and strip/clean equipment. In 2003 the largest sector is lithography, which takes in nearly 49% of the total market share. In the teeth of the downturn, production cost savings of up to 40% are driving the upsurge in market share for 300-mm tools.

UMC fab finally gets gear

After a delay of approximately six months, United Microelectronics (UMC) began installing process equipment at its 300-mm fab in Singapore in late January. The foundry jointly operates the plant with Infineon Technologies and EDB Investments, the financial affiliate of the Singapore Economic Development Board. The weak semiconductor market delayed plans to install the equipment.

UMC has begun moving equipment for copper-based back-end tools from Applied Materials and TEL into the fab in Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park. Front-end systems will be installed later this year, depending on market conditions, UMC says. The planned capacity for the facility, opened in December 2000, is 40,000 wafers per month. The venture partners have invested approximately $3.6 billion in the fab.

Vendors book tool orders

A furnace manufacturer, a gas systems supplier, a manufacturer of ion implantation equipment, and a supplier of wafer carriers have announced recent big 300-mm orders.

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates says a major U.S. semiconductor manufacturer has purchased its VIISta 80 high-current and VIISta 810 HP medium-current ion implantation tools for a 300-mm fab. The implanters will be shipped during the second quarter of 2003 and will complement an installed base of Varian ion implanters.

BOC Edwards has sold four bulk specialty gas systems for 300-mm high-flow use. Two systems have been placed at a plant in the United States. Two others were purchased by a major foundry in Taiwan, the supplier says. The tools deliver hexafluoroethane, sulfur hexafluoride, nitrous oxide, and carbon tetrafluoride. All incorporate the SpectraSure iGSC Control System, a new feature designed to prevent process interruptions caused by liquefaction and cooling during flow rates that can exceed 400 sl/min, the company says.

A subsidiary of ASM International has installed its first A412 vertical furnace for 300-mm SOI SIMOX wafer annealing. First-run results have been "excellent," according to ASM Europe. Temperatures during the first run exceeded 1300°C, the supplier says.

Finally, Samsung has made what Entegris calls a "significant" order for the F300 front-opening unified pods. Entegris says it has improved the door to its F300 AutoPod FOUP to accommodate variations in loadports, allowing more efficient fab operations.