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To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (7564)	5/18/2000 9:12:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 9582

Trecenti Technologies (UMC/Hitachi)Aims to Set World Standards for 300mm Wafers May 18, 2000 (TOKYO) -- "We seek to establish world standards for 300mm wafers," said Toshio Nohara, new president of Trecenti Technologies Inc., a joint wafer fabrication facility founded by Hitachi Ltd. and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) of Taiwan. The microchip company was set up in March. Existing microchip manufacturing technologies can't cope with the real framework of the 21st century, because they have been tied to traditions, Nohara noted. Hitachi and UMC, both of which have unique company cultures, seek to implement real innovations. The construction of 300mm wafer technologies is the first objective, Nohara said. Nikkei Microdevices: Please tell us about Trecenti's plans for the 300mm wafer production line. Nohara: Our main goal is to bring the 300mm line to mass production as a leading microchip maker. We will install manufacturing equipment by the end of 2000, and trial-produce microchips in January 2001. Mass production is slated to come on stream in April 2001 and shipments will start in May 2001. The effect of cost reductions due to deploying 300mm wafers will be verified during the mass production period. Q: What challenges are you undergoing now? A: Trecenti's challenges mainly involve manufacturing equipment. Our 300mm line has introduced a variety of new concepts. We asked makers of manufacturing equipment to develop new machines to implement these concepts. Consequently, almost all the machines for our 300mm line are likely to have a degree of completion as low as that of test machines. We will raise the completion levels of the machines in the course of our pilot production and mass production, in cooperation with manufacturing equipment makers. Q: Please explain more about the concepts you have embraced. A: Generally speaking, there are three concepts: First, a complete single-wafer-processing system has been deployed. This system enables Trecenti to build up the production capacity step by step, studying market demand. Previously, investments in wafer lines would become too intense or cause oversupply, because the minimum production volume to secure profitability was very large. Q: A complete single-wafer-processing system offers small-scale production lines, is that right? A: That is correct. Trecenti will start mass-producing microchips at a capacity of 7,000 wafers a month. This is equal to about a third of the conventional investment unit with a production capacity of 20,000 wafers a month. A complete single-wafer-processing system will make this capacity comparable to a process line with a production capacity of 20,000 wafers a month, in terms of the rate of return on investments. Q: What are the other two? A: Second, Trecenti has introduced a 'mini environment' using an SMIF box. Thirdly, we've introduced a full automatic wafer handling system. Costs for interior finishing work for clean rooms and operational costs for air conditioning are reduced by the mini environment technology. Full automatic wafer handling is meant to cope with wafer cassettes for 300mm wafers that are too heavy to handle by people. Q: Please explain the objectives of introducing those concepts. A: We seek to disseminate the use of 300mm wafer technologies among semiconductor microchip makers. And we'd like to complete the world's first 300mm line using these technologies and make them global standards. Conventional 300mm wafer technologies are suitable only for major microchip makers. However, our technologies are available for microchip makers with relatively small production capacities. Many semiconductor makers will be able to obtain the merit of 300mm wafer technologies. Also, manufacturing equipment makers will be able to expedite the recovery of their investments. The microchip industry and associated industries will expand thanks to the 300mm wafer technologies. Also, our company will be able to enjoy a new edge in terms of technology. Picture: Trecenti Technologies' Fab. The new 300mm wafer line will be installed in the N3 building (upper center). Of the two buildings (upper left), the N2 building is at the upper left, and the N1 is at the bottom right nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com