Intel starts pushing 450mm wafers

Posted on Tuesday, November 20 2007 @ 3:05 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Intel is urging to start pushing out 450mm wafers in the 2012 time frame or beyond:
Intel (Santa Clara, Calif.), for one, is attempting to push the industry towards 450-mm fabs in the 2012 time frame or beyond. As reported, with backing from Intel, chip-making consortium Sematech is devising a plan that will take a more direct path to 450-mm fabs in the future.

But Sematech's recent unveiling of the controversial plan to hasten the industry's move to 450-mm wafers has driven a wedge between the semiconductor equipment community and some chip makers, rekindling the debate over who will fund the development of next-generation fab tools--or whether the shift should in fact proceed at all.

However, in an interview at the company's 45-nm processor launch last week, Otellini said Intel is still "very interested" in moving towards 450-mm fabs as a means to stay on the chip-production cost curve.

Intel, he said, has not set a timetable for the next-generation wafer size. But he said the company would like to work with -- and not against -- the IC-equipment industry in the 450-mm arena. "We have to do it in concert with the equipment industry," he told EE Times.
Source: EE Times


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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