''While 450-mm would significantly lower the cost per unit and increase the output of a fab, the equipment suppliers are not making the investments needed to move to larger diameter wafers,’’ said Gus Richard, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, in a recent report.
''The equipment suppliers did not realize an acceptable ROI on their R&D investment in 300-mm tools and they are hesitant to fund development of 450-mm wafer capable tools,’’ he said. ‘’While we believe that 450-mm will eventually move to production, this is unlikely to occur in the next five years.’’
Still, fab tool vendors are quietly ramping up their 450-mm efforts. ''There’s a lot of activity going on in the back channel around 450-mm to indicate that some big news will break next year,'' said wrote VLSI Research CEO G. Dan Hutcheson, in a recent report.
450mm production schedule slips
Posted on Saturday, January 29 2011 @ 13:05 CET by Thomas De MaesschalckEE Times reports 450mm fabs will emerge several years later than expected. Before the financial crisis the next-gen wafer size was expected to hit production by 2015 or 2016 at the earliest, but now analysts believe 450mm fabs have been delayed at least to 2017 or 2018.
