STMicro's new fab
07/01/2000
The Prime Minister of France, Lionel Jospin, recently inaugurated Rousset8, STMicroelectronics' latest 200mm wafer fab. The ceremony was hosted by Jean-Pierre Noblanc, chairman of the supervisory board, and Pasquale Pistorio, ST's president and CEO. Representing a planned total investment of approximately $1.4 billion, Rousset8 will have a capacity of 7000 wafers/week (200mm), making it the largest front-end facility in ST's worldwide manufacturing network.
The new fab uses innovative minienvironment/isolation technology, a concept developed to ensure that the increasingly stringent air quality requirements of each technology node can be met without large financial and environmental costs. Wafers are transported between minienvironments in hermetically sealed boxes, and transport and handling operations are performed by robots. In this way, the air in each minienvironment can be economically maintained at a level 1000 times purer than the air in conventional cleanrooms, while also allowing a major reduction in the frequency of air re-circulation in the cleanroom.
"Minienvironment technology will be mandatory for the next generation of 12-inch fabs, but it has today reached the stage where it offers financial and environmental benefits for 8-inch fabs," said Laurent Bosson, ST's corporate VP for central front-end manufacturing. "The same isolation technology will be deployed in ST's other new 8-inch fabs currently under construction in Singapore and Italy," he added.
Occupying 19,900m2, Rousset8 is located on a 20-hectare site adjoining ST's existing 6-in. fab. The facility will focus on advanced digital circuits and nonvolatile memories and — with the 6-in. fab — will be the company's main source of microcontroller-based smartcard chips, an area of market leadership for ST.
The first logic devices were recently processed using 0.25 micron HCMOS-7 technology, and the fab is currently producing some 10 products for applications such as data storage, TV set-top boxes, and digital consumer equipment. New flash memory solutions for the cellular phone market, developed in ST's Agrate R&D center, are now being processed and will be qualified in 3Q00. As of 2001, Rousset8 will also produce ST's award-winning SmartJ family of smartcard chips, manufactured with 0.18 micron technology.
Rousset8's design is fully in line with ST's commitment to environmental neutrality. Some 45% less energy is needed to process an 8-in. wafer than is needed for a 6-in. wafer at the older Rousset fab. The new facility has a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant, co-financed with the town of Rousset and other local partners.
MKS Instruments to acquire Telvac
In a move designed to increase its presence in Europe, inspection equipment supplier MKS Instruments, Andover, MA, plans to acquire vacuum subsystem manufacturer Telvac Engineering Ltd., of Telford in England. No financial terms of the agreement were released.
Telvac not only develops vacuum subsystems but also offers manufacturing outsourcing to OEMs in the thin-film semiconductor/analytical instruments market. The company employs 22 people and will remain in Telford. MKS officials said Telvac co-founder Terry Moore will manage the group.
"MKS' broad line of vacuum and gas measurement and control instruments, in conjunction with Telvac's proven ability to manufacture high quality vacuum products, will enable MKS to better serve our OEM customers' needs," said John Smith, managing director of MKS-UK.
Wacker to acquire 55% of NSCE
Wacker Siltronic, which is based in Germany, currently views itself as the world's third-ranked supplier of raw silicon wafers and is aiming to be number two with a letter of intent signed with Nippon Steel Corporation Electron (NSCE) of Tokyo. "Entering into a partnership with NSCE will make us the number two supplier of hyperpure silicon wafers to the global semiconductor industry," said Wacker spokesman Manfred Bucher.
Under the terms of the agreement, Wacker would acquire 55% of NSCE and the two companies would exchange technology and product information. If all goes as planned, Wacker expects that the deal will close in the 4Q00.
With 35% of the world's raw wafers sold in Japan, Wacker's current market share in the country is 4%, a number Wacker would like to see increasing to 20%. Bucher commented, "Over and beyond the existing sales and technical activities we feel we need to establish a firm manufacturing basis in Japan to achieve our market goals. All of our competitors are there."
NSCE has two facilities, one in Hikari near Hiroshima and the other in Malaysia. The company produces 6- and 8-in. wafers at the Hikari site. There are indications that the Hiroshima facility is fully equipped, but it is not running at full capacity.
Meanwhile, at all six of Wacker's wafer fabs, Germany (3), Oregon (2), and Singapore (1), the company is running at full capacity. Company officials indicated that at its newest facility, in Singapore, which was opened in February, the company is still ramping up production.
It was not long ago that price, not capacity, was the big issue to materials suppliers such as Wacker. Bucher recalls that a year ago many companies were cutting the price of wafers just to compete. "Everyone was trying to cut the competition's price, none of the silicon manufacturers was making money — some still don't today."
Bucher believes that there are nine top wafer suppliers in the world and that in three years there may be just five left. "Wacker is here now and in three years we still plan to be around."
BOC merger fails
The companies involved in the failed bid to take over UK-based BOC Group say their businesses will continue as before, despite the disintegration of the deal."We've been pressing on with our business right the way through," said Raj Rajagopal, chief executive of BOC Edwards, the semiconductor and vacuum technology arm of BOC Group.
Air Liquide of France and Air Products and Chemicals, Allen-town, PA, had been in year-long negotiations to buy BOC Group in a deal valued at $11.2 billion. That bid was allowed to expire on May 12, when it became apparent that the companies were not going to reach an agreement that would satisfy US anti-trust regulators. A UK-based holding company formed by Air Liquide and Air Products has been dissolved. The bidders now have to pay a $100 million break fee to BOC.
BOC announced that it was not in discussions with the companies over a possible new offer, and did not intend to enter into any discussions. The company also named Tony Isaac, acting chief executive since August 1999, as the new group chief executive.
"This chapter is closed," said a spokesman for investor relations at Air Liquide. "What we have always said on Air Liquide's part is we want to focus on our own internal growth strategy."
The spokesman said the companies worked hard to gain regulatory approval from Canada, Australia, the European Commission in Brussels, and the US Federal Trade Commission. While they won approval from Canada and Europe, they were not able to convince the FTC. The companies discussed several possibilities, including selling all BOC assets in the United States. "Even with those discussions, we have not seen that the FTC was going to give it clearance," he said.
The merger would have given the two companies 40% of the world market in industrial gases, continuing Air Liquide as the number one company in the field and lifting Air Products to number two. Air Liquide would have controlled BOC's British and Irish gas operations, and Air Products would have controlled those in Australia and New Zealand.
While negotiations were going on, BOC underwent a restructuring that included cutting staff and reducing costs.
"Things didn't stop because there was an acquisition offer in place," said a BOC spokesperson. "I'm sure we'll be seeing more in terms of long-term strategy."
Shortly after the deal fell through, BOC announced that its earnings for the second quarter, ended March 31, were higher than expected. Pre-tax earnings were 109.3 million pounds (about $165.4 million), up 19% over the same period last year. For the first six months in 2000, pre-tax earnings were 211.1 million pounds (about $319.5 million), an increase of 18%. Earnings per share rose 25% for the quarter and 24% for the first six months.
The gases division had sales of 754.3 million pounds (about $1.24 billion) in the second quarter, an increase of 16% over last year, and sales of 1.47 billion pounds ($2.24 billion) for the six-month period, up 13% over the same time last year. Sales grew most notably in North America and in north and southeast Asia.
Air Liquide and Altis announce partnership
Altis Semiconductor, a subsidiary of IBM and Infineon Technologies, has selected Air Liquide Electronics to manage ultrapure gases and chemicals at its fab in Corbeil-Essonnes, France. (Ultrapure gases and chemicals are used extensively in semiconductor manufacturing for such processes as doping, etching, and wafer cleaning.) According to the terms of the partnership, Air Liquide will also take over and develop Altis' ultrapure chemical laboratory and make it the European expertise center for the electronics industry. This will enable Air Liquide to expand its range of services to European chipmakers, marketed under the "FabExpert" name.
A team of 40 Air Liquide personnel working at the Altis facility — which is some 30km south of Paris — will provide round-the-clock service under a "Total Gas and Chemical Management" service contract. They will handle all ultrapure gases and chemicals in the fab, from initial procurement to point-of-use quality inspection.
In other European news, ASM International N.V., Bilthoven, The Netherlands, said its subsidiary, ASM America, received multiple orders for additional Epsilon E2000 reactors, with delivery commencing this year, to support Sony Semiconductor San Antonio (TX) in its bipolar, BiCMOS, and wafer foundry operations.