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To: Ian@SI who wrote (451)	6/8/1998 12:04:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Respond to of 1214

Researchers Say Method Slashes Process Cost 06/08/98; 10:42 a.m. ET By Yoshiko Hara, EE Times A research group at Tohoku University, in Sendai, Japan, has proposed a concept for semiconductor-fabrication lines that could lower the total cost for semiconductor processes to one-tenth of their current levels. The concept was presented at the Semicon Kansai '98 conference, held in Osaka, Japan, June 3 to 5. The group, led by professor Tadahiro Ohmi, developed several key technologies to improve and streamline semiconductor-manufacturing systems, from a new cluster tool structure to an ability to recycle gas and liquid. Ohmi proposed a 3-D structure for cluster tools as a part of the new concept for a chip production line. By laying out process chambers on a transfer changer, the cluster tools no longer need gate valves, through which wafers are taken into processing chambers. The cluster tool would occupy about 1 square meter on the floor, whereas a conventional cluster tool with four process chambers for 200-millimeter wafers has a footprint of about 4 square meters, for example. When the structure is applied to equipment for 300-mm wafers, the footprint will be 1.4 meters square, or about half the space required for current 200-mm wafer equipment. "This means existing clean rooms for 200-mm wafer lines can be used as it is for 300-mm wafer fabrication," said a researcher of the group. Several equipment manufacturers, including Tokyo Electron, are cooperating with the Ohmi group to implement the concept on actual manufacturing equipment. "It will take at least six months to implement the new concept to the system," a Tokyo Electron spokesman said. techweb.com