May 22, 2002 – Kulim, Malaysia – Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., a semiconductor-manufacturing foundry, will invest an additional $107 million for capital equipment.

The funds will be used to expand Silterra’s facility with additional 0.18- and 0.13-micron equipment.

“Demand for our 0.18-micron capacity has been very strong,” stated K.C. Ang, exec. VP of operations for Silterra. “Our forecast based on customer imputs and market research indicate that we will need the additional capacity later in the year in order to meet growing demand. We will also be installing equipment to begin the transition to more advanced 0.13-micron process technologies.”

The new 0.18-micron equipment set is extendable for 0.13-micron processes. It includes FSG deposition, high-energy implanter, etchers, a DUV scanner, and metrology tools. The additional equipment will increase the fabs capacity from 18,000 wafers/month to 22,000 wafers/month. The equipment will arrive through August of this year.

Tools for the 0.13-micron technology includes equipment for low energy ion implant, low temperature nitride deposition, high selectivity etching, and advanced metrology tools. The 0.13-micron equipment set will arrive at Silterra’s Kulim facility beginning in June.

As part of the expansion effort, the company is also enhancing its CIM and IT infrastructure to provide enhanced features and higher capacity for the manufacturing systems.