Intel to Restart Construction of $2 Billion Manufacturing Facility
Expands Capacity For Advanced 300 MM Wafer Production on 90-Nanometer Process
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2002--Intel Corporation today announced it will resume construction on Fab 24 in Leixlip, County Kildare, Ireland. The $2 billion manufacturing facility will produce advanced semiconductor components on 300 mm wafers and initially use 90-nanometer process technology.
The new fab will contain 160,000 square feet of cleanroom with slightly more than one million square feet of space for the total facility. Operations are expected to begin in the first half of 2004. When the new facility is completed the company will have four 300 mm wafer fabrication facilities in operation.
``In order to provide customers with the benefits of leading-edge products, we must continue to invest in the newest technologies and capacity,'' said Bob Baker, vice president and general manager of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group. ``As computing and communications devices converge, the need for higher performance components will grow. This facility will help us meet that growing demand. The combination of the 300 mm wafers and 90-nanometer process technology will also reduce the costs of manufacturing, increase productivity and improve the availability of the world's most advanced semiconductor products.''
Manufacturing with 300 mm wafers (about 12 inches in diameter) dramatically increases production of computer chips at lower cost compared with the current standard 200 mm (eight-inch) wafers. The total silicon surface area of a 300 mm wafer is 225 percent (or more than twice) that of a 200 mm wafer, and the ratio of printed die (individual computer chips) is increased to 240 percent. The bigger wafers lower the production cost per chip while diminishing overall use of resources. 300 mm wafer manufacturing will use 40 percent less energy and water per chip than a 200 mm wafer factory.
The new fab will also incorporate Intel's recently disclosed 90-nanometer process technology. In March, the company announced that Intel researchers had built the world's smallest SRAM memory cell using this new technology.
Construction on Fab 24 was originally begun in June 2000 but was halted during last year's worldwide economic downturn.
When completed in 2004, the fab will employ a staff of 1,000. There are currently 3,150 Intel employees in Leixlip. During construction, Fab 24 will be the largest single construction project in Ireland. Additionally, Intel's cumulative investment in manufacturing facilities in Ireland at the end of 2004 will total more than $5 billion.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
Note to Editors: Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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Contact:
Intel
Chuck Mulloy, 408/765-3484
chuck.mulloy@intel.com |
