Win Semiconductors Debuts Six-Inch GaAs Wafers Using 0.15-Micron Process
March 21, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- Win Semiconductor Corp. of Taiwan said it has successfully used the cutting-edge 0.15-micron process to turn out six-inch GaAs epitaxy wafers of high-density electron mobility transistor (HEMTs).
It plans to launch commercial production of the chips with this advanced process by the fourth quarter of 2001.
GaAs-based HEMTs are mostly used in wireless communications gears. Win Semiconductor's specialists point out that the 0.15-micron process is able to help reduce the production cost of the communications chips and raise output.
Win Semiconductor opened its GaAs epitaxy-wafer foundry factory in 2000, making it the world's first manufacturer in this line to offer GaAs wafer foundry services. Win completed the factory at the Huaya Technology Park in Taipei in September 1999. Anticipating that the market will remain strong in the near future, the company is now planning a second facility.
Studies anticipate that the production value of GaAs-based microwave chips will be approximately US$2 billion worldwide this year. The value is forecast to double in 2003, thanks to the rising demand for optical fiber and wireless broadband communications devices in addition to microwave chips.
The company estimates that world demand for output capacity of GaAs-based microwave chips will quadruple to one million six-inch wafers in 2005 from the current 250,000 wafers.
The company estimates the foundry cost of a six-inch GaAs wafer to be US$20,000 or so, compared with the US$1,200 to US$2,500 for an eight-inch wafer. Its specialists point out that GaAs-based HEMTs manufactured by means of the 0.15-micron process were first rolled out around a decade ago at three-inch wafer factories run by international heavyweight players. So far, the technology has been mostly adopted at three-inch and four-inch factories in Europe and the United Sates.
Besides exploiting the 0.15-micron process, Win Semiconductor has also turned out Asia's first six-inch InGaP HBTs (indium-gallium-phosphorus heterojunction bipolar transistors) wafers made with the two-micron process. The company has also produced Taiwan's first six-inch GaAs wafer of HEMTs made with 0.5-micron technology.
Win plans to launch volume production of GaAs-based HEMTs in the fourth quarter this year, with annual output projected at 10,000 wafers this year, 30,000 wafers in 2002, and 100,000 wafers in 2004.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan) |
