SGS-Thomson creates R&D center and a pilot line in Europe
St. Genis, France
SGS-Thomson Microelectronics will create a 300-mm wafer research fab and pilot line at Crolles, near Grenoble, France, together with an advanced research center for non-volatile technologies (both standalone and embedded memories) in Agrate, Italy, near Milan.
With construction to start in 1999 at a cost of $500 million, Crolles 2 will house R&D operations and a pilot line for 300-mm CMOS and BiCMOS processes, with first silicon scheduled for 2000, depending on the availability of the new 300-mm processing equipment. The new center in Agrate, called R2, will include a new Class 0 cleanroom and 200-mm equipment capability to 0.13-micron lithography by the year 2003. — SES