Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul V. who wrote (15062)	1/26/1998 8:49:00 PM
From: 16yearcycle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

News article from another bb, taken from The Oregonian. I hope it is not a repeat here. ."Intel plans to advance technique for chips." by Elisa Williams....staff writer. "Intel Corp. will launch a more efficient chip making echnique in Hillsboro that will elevate the importance of the site worldwide and substantially boost the company's investment in its Ronler Acres campus. Oregon's largest industrial employer will spend about 1.5 billion to 2 billion on its second Ronler Acres plant, sources told The Oregonian. It will be the first Intel factory to make computer chips on silicon wafers that measure 12 inches, or 300 millimeters, in diameter. The cost of the plant alone could potentially equal the 2.2 billion Intel said in 1994 that it would invest at Ronler, a campus designed for two office buildings and two chip plants. As Intel completes both plants, it will add about 600 to 800 employees, the bulk of whom will be engineers and skilled factory technicians. The second plant is expected to start production by the turn of the century. Making the shift to dinner plate size 12 inch wafers at Ronler Acres signals the importace of the Hillsboro campus to Intel's future. The plant's progress will be watched industrywide as competitors and suppliers all aim to make the same conversion from 8 inch wafers, which are considered state of the art today. Heading up the conversion within Intel is the Oregon based Portland Technology Development unit, which emplys about 1,000 people. Engineers within the unit are charged with figuring out how to manufacture semiconductors that pack more features into an increasingly smaller chip. About 100 Intel employees companywide are devoted to Intel's effort to convert to 12 inch wafers, along with hundreds of contractors and design engineers, sources said. Intel officials on Friday would not confirm the company's plans for a 12 inch plant. The stakes for Intel, the world's largest chip maker are tremendously high. The semiconductor companies that make the switch to 12 inch wafers first have much to gain in cost and performance benefits well into the next century. The larger wafer size reduces manufacturing costs by making it possible to produce 2.5 times more chips from a single silicon wafer, the raw material used to create a semiconductor. Without this advance, the industry won't be able to continue to improve and grow at the same rate. 'We really need 300mm. It's very important that our industry stays on its current productivity curve, adding 25% more functionality a year,' Mark Melliar Smith said. He is presidnet and CEO of Sematech, a Texas-based industry consortium that is overseeing the U.S. led 300 Millimeter Initiative. But getting to this next level of efficiency has a high price tag. The estimated cost of converting existing plants to the new technology is about 1.5 to 2 billion. The industry's inevitable shift to 12 inch wafers is substantially different from similiar conversions, such as the move nfrom 6 inch wafers to 8 inch wafers, Melliar-Smith said. ."In the past, a single semiconductor company served as the guinea pig. It has been industry leaders such as Intel and IBM because they could afford the investment. This time around chip makers have relied on the equipment industry to lead the conversions. Although equipment makers will bear the upfront cost in research, they also have much to gain. The sale of new equipment should prove to be a boon for companies such as AMAT. Lam Research and NVLS, which is planning a manufacturing and development campus in the Portland metroploitan area. Equipment makers only recently have produced prototype products that will make the first 12 inch wafer plants possible. Intel broke ground on its second Ronler Acres plant in December. It will implement 12 inch wafer technology in Hillsboro because the equipment will be ready as it completes the plant. Other semiconductor companies are on a similar timeline. Earlier this month, Siemens AG and Motorola Inc. said they had formed a joint venture to develop 12 inch wafer manufacturing technology. Their project, called Semiconductor 300, will be executed in Siemen's existing plant in Dresden, Germany. Even without the move to 12 inch wafers, Ronler Acres is a key strategic site for Intel. Both Ronler Acres factories will start out as develpment facilities for two new types of manufacturing processes that will enable Intel to produce chips that work faster, cost less and consume less power. Intel will launch its next generation manufacturing process, called .18micron, which denotes the width of the lines that form the circuitry of a chip, at its first Ronler Acres plant. That plant is expected to start production in about a year. The second plant - in addition to launching 12 inch wafer technology - will be used to develop the .13micron manufacturing process and generations beyond."