Asyst raises fab-automation bar at Intel, SMIC
By Mark LaPedus
Semiconductor Business News
(06/27/03 12:12 p.m. EST)
SAN FRANCISCO -- It's been a difficult period for Asyst Technologies Inc.
The Fremont, Calif.-based chip-equipment maker has announced losses, layoffs, and other cost-cutting measures amid the current and severe IC downturn. And it has also divested its wafer-carrier lines, selling the products to Entegris Inc. earlier this year (see Feb. 11 story ).
But Asyst has also raised the bar in the fab-automation market, as evidenced by recent orders and installations at Intel Corp. and China's Semiconductor International Manufacturing Corp. (SMIC), according to a new report from Bill Ong, an analyst at American Technology Research in San Francisco.
Asyst is paving the way in fab-automation, especially for 300-mm fabs. “Unlike 200-mm fabs, where only about 25 percent of these fabs were equipped with factory automation tools and systems, all 300-mm fabs are required to be automated for ergonomics and cost-yield reasons,” Ong wrote in the report. “This provides an enormous opportunity for both Asyst and Brooks Automation.”
Another benefactor is Intel, which has deployed Asyst's fab-automation equipment within its state-of-the-art Fab 11X plant in Rio Rancho, N.M., according to the report.
Intel's 11X fab is a high-volume 300-mm fab, based on 0.13-micron technology. The plant produced its first chips in late-2002 and is running 6,600 wafers starts per month. It plans to transition to a 90-nm process in the second half of 2003, according to the report.
“We believe Intel is one of the few early adopters of full-factory automation for 300-mm production,” according to the report. “Fab 11X uses Asyst tools for all intrabay wafer movements, which in turn, connect into a dual stacked interbay automated material handling system (AMHS). By having all wafer movement automated with no manual transport, fab yields improve dramatically by increasing safety and throughput, and, reducing cost and inventory management,” according to the report.
Intel's 11X plant is expected to become the model in fab automation. “We believe fab managers will try to emulate Intel's 300-mm highly automated Fab 11X,” the report said.
Asyst has also installed the technology in 8-inch plants, including at Chinese foundry startup SMIC of Shanghai. SMIC's Fab 1 plant achieved first silicon within its 8-inch plant in October 2001. During 2002, SMIC Fab 1 was able to rapidly convert from 0.35- to 0.18-micron within a year.
“Fab automation also played an essential role in the ramp in both volume and technology node advancement. Fab 1 adopted Asyst's SMIF mini-environment system throughout the fab,” the report said.
“We believe other chipmakers will begin to evaluate full-factory automation for their 300-mm and/or 200-mm fab needs as we continue to move along in this industry recovery,” the report added. |
