Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Toshiba and SanDisk are once again teaming to operate another 300mm mega-fab at Toshiba’s Yokkaichi Operations in in Mie Prefecture, Japan with the start of construction of delayed Fab 5, NAND flash facility. The fab will be constructed in two phases, with the pace of investment reflecting market trends. On completion of its second phase, Fab 5 will be comparable to Fab 4, with a ground area of some 38,000m2. Fab 4 has an estimated capacity of over 210,000wspm. Construction work is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2011. Read more >>

A five-year contract to service all Applied Materials chip production equipment at NXP Semiconductor’s facility in Nijmegen, Holland has been signed with the equipment company. Through its Applied Performance Service program, over 70 Applied Materials systems at NXP’s 8-inch wafer facility will be covered by the new contract. Applied will also hire NXP engineers to become members of Applied’s on-site service team. Read more >>

Five finalists have been listed for this year's SEMICON West, Sustainable Technologies Award, which includes Applied Materials, Edwards, Pall, Tokyo Electron and Verigy. The annual award recognizes equipment, materials or services that have been introduced to the marketplace in the last three years that can contribute to sustainable improvement of the environment. Read more >>

Anticipated demand for leading-edge foundry processing has pushed Globalfoundries to immediately start construction of a new 300mm fab at its complex in Dresden, Germany. Part of its Fab 1 cluster, the facility will the largest in Europe with a capacity of 80,000wspm (wafer starts per month), employing an 110,000 square foot cleanroom. First wafers out are expected in 2011 and will capable of processing at the 45/40/28nm technology nodes as well as initial 22nm development.  Read more >>

Following in the footsteps of Komatsu Group, which successfully sold a redundant semiconductor wafer fab to SolarWorld, SUMCO Phoenix is now offering its wafer fab facility near Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A to the solar industry.  The 70,000 square foot cleanroom (Class 100) is housed in a 200,000 square foot building on a 100 acre site that can accommodate future growth. ATREG, a division of Colliers International has won the contract to sell the facility on behalf of SUMCO. Read more >>

ABB is acquiring a Czech power semiconductor firm, Polovodiče for an undisclosed sum to boost its power semiconductor production, due to the short supply and strong demand for power switching devices used in inverters. ABB is already spending US$150 million over three years to expand its semiconductor plant in Lenzburg, Switzerland. Polovodiče has been making power semiconductors since the mid-1950s and had revenues in the low double-digit millions of US dollars, according to ABB. Read more >>

TSMC has started its ‘green energy’ manufacturing initiative in earnest with the groundbreaking ceremony for its first LED lighting fab and R&D centre in Hsinchu Science Park at an initial first phase cost of US$175 million. TSMC said that equipment tool install was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2010 with volume production in the first quarter of 2011. The second phase of the capacity expansion would be decided later on market demand criteria, the company said.
Read more >>

The next wave of 300mm fab expansions is now underway with the official announcement from Toshiba that it will start building Fab 5 in July, 2010 at its major fab complex in Yokkaichi, Japan. The NAND flash facility will be similar in size to Fab 4, which has an official capacity of 210,000 wafer starts per month (wspm) and is one of the largest 300mm facilities ever built. Read more >>

Applied Materials has become the newest member of the Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Technology Center, part of International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI). Applied is teaming with the centre to improve the environmental performance of its products and processes. Read more >>

Citing urgent demand for advanced 300mm capacity, TSMC is to start construction of a new fab, Fab 14, Phase 4, after the Chinese New Year, while Fab 12, Phase 5 expansion is now set for tool install and initial ramp-up in the third quarter of 2010. The new fab is the first 300mm fab officially announced in over a year.
Read more >>