Pure-play development foundries offer accelerated innovation
11/01/2007
When process innovation is a requirement, a sound process development strategy is a must. Differentiation on silicon that is process- vs. design-based can hold very high returns for investors and technologists provided the innovation is accelerated via streamlined development efforts that understand both the development and the manufacturing challenges.
In recent years, however, securing an optimal process development solution has become more difficult. Declining product ASPs are driving production foundries to become even more efficient and limit the availability of development organization personnel allowed to share production equipment. For fabless companies, the costs of building a development fab are prohibitive, and even IDMs are considering how to scale back dedicated development fabs. Development costs have also increased.
The obvious option is outsourcing, but the options have been limited to date. University-, consortium-, and government-sponsored development facilities often provide low costs of entry, but may have environments and policies that create difficulties for companies trying to protect their IP rights. Also, a primary mission of these institutions is research, so they may lack the commercial disciplines required to achieve fast cycles of learning and development approaches that are tailored to high-volume manufacturing (HVM).
A different set of limitations emerges when companies rely on IDMs or manufacturing foundries. The competitive environment for semiconductors places a high premium on high-volume, consistency, and stability. While this environment is ideal for fully characterized, high-volume products, it is not conducive to companies working on novel technologies that require new materials and specialized process equipment. As a result, manufacturing needs come first, and companies sharing these fabs suffer subsequent cycle time (time-to-market) delays.
These challenges have created a need for a new fab and service model that can accelerate technology and business methods for rapid process innovation, as well as anticipate volume production post-development.
Often described as a pure-play process development foundry, this model offers a unique combination of these critical elements: a shared, yet IP-secure environment that runs with the operational excellence of HVM, while having the flexibility to respond to the unique requirements presented during the development of novel technologies.
Key to operating in a manufacturing-like environment is the ability to provide constant monitoring of lot movements, equipment availability and cycle times via statistical process control (SPC) techniques and other data-driven problem-solving techniques. This minute-by-minute wafer and equipment monitoring facilitates continuous improvement within the wafer fab allowing rapid innovation to be realized, ultimately securing a faster time-to-market for the customer.
The successful development foundry also must provide a flexible materials approach and strict mechanisms for introduction and control. A balancing act enforcing the desire and acceptance of new materials, while co-enforcing existing and traditional wafer fab protocols must be undertaken.
Another effective element in process development that accelerates learning and innovation is technology reuse. Enabling the reuse of building block process steps that are not in any IP conflicting territory allows the developer to focus solely on the specific areas of new technology. Significant (>75%) elements of a final process flow for a new technology may be derived from pre-existing elements. The net effect of successful technology reuse can be time savings of critical proportions.
Acting as a bridge, pure-play development foundries can become essential catalysts in moving novel technologies from concept to real, high-yielding manufacturing-ready products. Pure-play development foundries offer access to an independent, IP-secure environment that is focused on operational performance, development cycle times, and new material integration-moving today’s unique technologies and products forward with improved time-to-market.
Contact Julian Searle at SVTC Technologies, 3901 North First St., San Jose, CA 95134; email [email protected].
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Julian Searle, manager, business development, SVTC Technologies