Online information source for semiconductor professionals

After the recent announcement that Intel Corp would construct a new 300mm fab, D1X at Intel's Ronler Acres Campus in Hillsboro, Oregon, the microprocessor giant used a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to its Oregon campus to announce the construction of another 300mm fab, dubbed Fab 42 at Intel's site in Chandler, Arizona. The US$5 billion plus plant will begin construction in the middle of this year and is expected to be completed in 2013. It will ramp using Intel’s 14nm process on 300mm wafers. Read more >>

Intel Corp will purchase 2.5 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits (RECs) in 2011, which is a 75% increase over its 2010 commitment of 1.43 billion kilowatt hours. This equates to more than 85% of Intel's estimated purchased electricity needs in the U.S. for 2011. Read more >>

Not something that happens every day and in the case of Texas Instruments – not something that happens every few years but the chip manufacturer actually ramped production at three new fabs in the last quarter of 2010. TI said that production had started for its own analog IC’s at its 300mm RFAB in Richardson, Texas as well as production at the recently acquired 300mm fab from Spansion in Aizu Japan. A fab that was previously operated by SMIC in Chengdu, China was also ramping. Read more >>

CEA-Leti is applying its 3D-integration processes on a new 300mm wafer line that is ramping later this month. The R&D facility in France will be able to process through-silicon vias (TSVs), and advanced capabilities in alignment, bonding, thinning, and interconnects in specific integration schemes for manufacturing optimized die stacks.

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Vishay Intertechnology’s manufacturing facilities in the Philippines have been awarded three awards for environmental and safety performance from the Philippine government in 2010. To be considered, Vishay had to meet government environmental targets and be 100 % compliant with all legal requirements respecting permits, emissions, wastewater effluent and recycling standards. The plant actually exceeded the environmental targets by more than 20 %, according to Vishay. Read more >>

Though not sold to a another semiconductor firm, the 200mm shell fab in Dunfermline, Scotland owned by Freescale and formerly Motorola has finally been sold, according to ATREG and Colliers International. Shepherd Offshore Services, headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK have acquired the facility for an undisclosed sum. Read more >>

The days of building a 300mm fab every couple of years has long been over at Intel Corp. However, the first advanced front-end facility to be built in the U.S. since Fab 32 in Chandler, Arizona broke-ground in late 2005 will be a new R&D facility in Oregon, dubbed Fab D1X. Four other existing 300mm fabs will be upgraded for the volume production migration to the 22nm node at a cost of between US$6 and US$8 billion. Read more >>

Continued strong demand for semiconductors is fuelling a continued increase in capital expenditure plans in 2010. According to Gartner, manufacturing capacity has increased from 5% to 6%, year-over-year in the second quarter, compared to its previous figures for the first quarter. Key IC manufacturers spending the most during the last three months include Globalfoundries, Samsung, Toshiba and, most recently, TSMC. Samsung tops the CapEx spenders for 2010, followed by Intel and TSMC, after several major revisions to its plans for 2010. Read more >>

In a renewed effort to add capacity ahead of the curve and return to historical capital spending patterns, TSMC has held a groundbreaking ceremony in Taichung’s Central Taiwan Science Park for its latest 300mm facility, Fab 15. The fab will be comprised of two manufacturing cleanrooms and an office building having a capacity of over 100,000wspm when fully ramped. Construction is expected to take approximately 10 months. TSMC said it expected to begin equipment move in for Phase 1 in June 2011, with volume production of 40nm and 28nm technology products for customers in the first quarter of 2012. The fully ramped cost of the facility was said to be US$9.34 billion. Read more >>

Following-on from its 300mm equipment purchases from bankrupt Qimonda, Texas Instruments has snagged 2 fabs in Japan from insolvent, Spansion Japan, including 300mm fab equipment. The financial details were not disclosed. TI plans to ship the 300mm equipment, which was capable of 65nm production and below to it’s recently opened 300mm RFAB and will support capacity expansion under TI’s Phase II plan. Read more >>