Intel converting Irish site to 0.25-micron
Leixlip, Ireland
Intel Corp. has opened a 0.25-micron microprocessor production factory in Europe. Built at a cost of $1.3 billion just outside Dublin, the 800,000-square- foot Fab 14 includes a 90,000-square-foot cleanroom, where the company`s latest chips will be made in an ultraclean environment. The fab will produce Pentium II, Pentium II Xeon, and Pentium II Celeron processors for the worldwide computer market. Intel will also convert an adjacent Fab 10, with its 70,000-square-foot cleanroom, to 0.25-micron process technology some time next year at a cost of several hundred million dollars. Says Craig Barrett, Intel president and COO: “Intel will convert its entire microprocessor production to 0.25-micron technology by the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year.” — SES