Intel has decided to aggressively move ahead on construction of its D1D process Development fabrication facility in Oregon, in order to proceed with 300 millimeter (mm) technology.
Intel began construction on the facility in the middle of last year, with the understanding that spending after 2001 would be subject to business conditions.
Now, due to favorable economic and business conditions, Intel is moving ahead with the D1D facility under the 2002 capital expenditures budget that will allow the facility to be substantially completed this fall. Employee occupancy at D1D is targeted for next spring.
The D1D fab is located at the Ronler Acres campus on Intel's Oregon site near the D1C Development fab. The D1C fab completed production of its first silicon chips from its 0.13 micron technology, 300-mm wafer development in March of last year.
"The decision to carry on is part of Intel's strategy to stay on the leading edge," says Sunlin Chou, senior vice president and general manager of the Technology and Manufacturing Group. "We know that's the only way we can be successful."
According to Chou, an example of Intel's commitment to this philosophy is Intel's decision to proceed with
300 mm technology. "300-mm is an investment that has paid off handsomely in terms of reduced costs," he says. "We're now fully committed to it."
Intel decided to proceed with a formal 300-mm program in the middle of 1999, based on the progress that was made on equipment performance. The decision at the time was driven by cost rather than capacity. The first 300-mm technology is the 0.13 micron generation and this wafer size conversion utilizes a completely new tool set. The 300 mm program is being developed by the Logic Technology Development (LTD) group in Oregon.
When completed, the D1D fab will have approximately 700,000 square feet and will be three levels high, with a utility, a sub-fab, and a clean room. The full cost of the facility at completion and in operation as a production fab, including tools, could be in the $2 billion range.
The D1D Development fab is the third fab facility to be located at the Ronler Acres campus and is one of four fabs on the campus' master plan.
"D1D is our next fab that is charged with the development of future-generation technologies, a couple generations beyond where we are in production now," says Chou. "That would give the development team time to refine the process and get it into peak manufacturing condition so that it could be copied exactly and quickly. D1D would shift to production somewhere around 2005."
Intel's work on the D1D Development fab is also considered to be good news for Oregon. "The D1D project will mean more construction jobs in Oregon, increased employment at Intel Oregon and expansion of Intel’s positive economic impact on the Washington County and Oregon economies," says Mike Salsgiver, manager of Oregon Public Affairs. |
