World News
06/01/2000
Worldwide Highlights
Chipmakers see book-to-bill, utilization rise
Market researcher VLSI Research, San Jose, CA, said world front-end fab capacity utilization has continued to tighten since the beginning of the year, ticking up to 97.4% in March, the last month of the first quarter. The figure has risen steadily since January (see figure), and may help push up equipment order levels as chipmakers seek out new capacity.
 |
In its monthly Industry Pulse Pro report, VLSI said the world IC book-to-bill ratio recovered to the 1.03 mark in March after dipping below 1.0 in January and February. Orders for semiconductors totaled $12.9 billion, up from $12.3 billion in February.
 |
According to Semi, orders of semiconductor equipment from North American producers soared to $2.45 billion in March, producing a record-breaking book-to-bill ratio of 1.45 (see table). The trade association's latest report also said shipments of semiconductor equipment totaled $1.7 billion in the month, climbing six percent over February's revised $1.6 billion in shipments and 79% above the $944 million logged in the year-ago period. All figures are three-month moving averages.
Wafer demand going up, up, up
Foundry demand for 0.18mm CMOS wafer technology from fabless companies is expected to see outstanding growth in the next two years, rising from a minimal 4000 200mm wafer equivalents in 1999 to a forecasted 1.1 million in 2001, according to a new report from the Fabless Semiconductor Association.
Total wafer demand will reach 3.8 million 200mm wafer equivalents in 2001, up from 1.9 million in 1999. The figures show 39.3% growth this year to the 2.6 million level, followed by 48.1% growth in 2001 (see table).
 |
Some 101 fabless companies participated in this year's wafer and packaging demand survey, up from 82 in 1999 and 45 in the FSA's first survey conducted in 1996, said Jodi Shelton, executive director of the organization. "It's going to be a huge challenge for foundries to keep up," notes Shelton. The survey does not include demand from IDMs such as Motorola, which has a stated goal of outsourcing 50% of its manufacturing to foundries by 2002.
The survey also showed a move by fabless companies away from the PC market to the communications sector, a shift that is being seen across the entire semiconductor industry. In addition, the survey said 67 of the 101 participants rely on pure-play Asian foundries, specifically Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., UMC, or Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. "TSMC and UMC have done an unbelievable job in raising the bar for competitors," Shelton said, noting, however, "I think everybody is a bit nervous that there's such a huge amount of our supply coming from Taiwan." The region, which has seen its share of political and geological uncertainty, accounts for 80% of all pure-play foundry capacity, and roughly 20-25% of all fab investments now come from companies in the region.
More detailed information about the FSA survey results can be found at www.fsa.org.
USA
Intel is evaluating whether or not it will construct a $2-$2.25 billion chip plant in Israel that would use 0.13mm technologies and employ about 3000 people. Intel has raised its 2000 capital spending from $5-$6 billion. The additional $1 billion will be used to purchase machinery, equipment and possible new fab construction.
Intel also says it will use fluorine-doped SiO2 (SiOF) as its dielectric choice for 0.13mm copper devices. "SiOF appears to be the best choice at this time," notes Intel fellow Mark Bohr. The microprocessor giant introduced SiOF to its 0.18mm manufacturing lines; a slightly modified version will be used at 0.13mm. Bohr says SiOF has "almost identical" processing properties and mechanical strength as compared to conventional SiO2.
Intel will move to a low-k material at the 0.10mm generation, and is evaluating both spin-on and CVD low-k materials. While Bohr says it's too early to make a material choice for the 0.10mm generation, he indicated that Intel hopes to use a homogeneous dielectric approach, thereby avoiding more complex and costly composite films.
Therma-Wave Inc. and Timbre Technology, both of Fremont, CA, have entered into an exclusive sales distribution agreement for new metrology technology that should allow semiconductor IC manufacturers to achieve higher productivity and improved performance through advanced CD (critical dimension) measurements. The two companies expect that by using Timbre's CD capabilities and Therma-Wave's Opti-Probe systems, they will find new uses for CD metrology.
In an effort to double its production capacity, Fairchild Semiconductor International, West Jordan, UT, will invest $44 million into its hometown manufacturing plant. The expansion, expected to create 100 new jobs, is currently under way and is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. Fairchild currently employs 450 people at the West Jordan facility.
Ultratech Stepper, San Jose, CA, has shut down UltraBeam, its Murray Hill, NJ, e-beam development subsidiary. The unit had produced no significant revenues since Ultratech acquired the operation in 1997.
Ultratech had hoped to build UltraBeam into a leading supplier of e-beam maskmaking equipment. UltraBeam employed about 30 people. Ultratech said the UltraBeam closure "is the best alternative in order to enhance stockholder value and focus on what it believes are the best long-term growth opportunities for the company."
Eastman Kodak Company, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. and ULVAC Japan, Ltd. have entered a strategic partnership to jointly develop organic light emitting diode (OLED) flat panel manufacturing equipment technology. The agreement is slated to last for three years and is considered the first step in building a diverse manufacturing equipment infrastructure for the production of OLED displays.
Eaton Semiconductor Equipment is planning a $22 million expansion program, which will include a new demo center, applications lab, and training center in Beverly, MA, as well as an expansion of manufacturing operations in Rockville, MD. The expanded Maryland facility will be operational in the third quarter.
Market researcher IDC, Mountain View, CA, thinks the foundry market, led by companies like TSMC, will grow to be a $36 billion business by 2004, up from under $7 billion in 1999. Foundry-fabricated chips now account for some 12% of the world market. IDC expects to see that share more than double to 26% by 2004.
Dow Corning, Lehigh Valley, PA, and Air Products and Chemicals, have formed a strategic alliance to supply and market semiconductor grade trimethylsilane to semiconductor customers around the world. Under the terms of the agreement, Air Products will become the worldwide distributor of Dow's trimethylsilane by selling the product directly to semiconductor customers.
Metron Technology has opened a parts cleaning and outsourcing center in Kiryat Gat, Israel. The center will offer cleaning services and support to device and OEM manufacturers that are based in Israel. The 30,000 ft2 facility was completed in five months. The center will employ 20 people, which will bring Metron's employee base in Israel to more than 40.
Amkor Technology Inc. and Zuken USA are working together to integrate Zuken's design solutions into Amkor's advanced IC packaging process. Through the partnership, the firms hope to reduce the time between concept to manufacturing from weeks to possibly hours. "Knowing customer needs, and the capabilities of the substrate suppliers and the assembly site, we can use this tool to achieve accurate designs ready for manufacturing with short lead times," noted Randy Holman, VP of design services for Amkor.
GSI Lumonics has received a favorable ruling in a patent infringement suit filed in 1995 by Robotic Vision Systems Inc. (RVSI). The US District court ruled that RVSI's patent suit against GSI was invalid. RVSI was seeking damages of $65 million plus interest. RVSI plans to appeal the ruling.
 |
Tower Semiconductor Ltd., Israel, has signed a wafer supply agreement with National Semiconductor. Under the terms of the agreement, Tower will manufacture IC wafers for National for the next two years. "National's strategy has been to team with foundry suppliers who are integrated into our supply chain and can deliver added value to our customers," said Will Cuellar, senior manager of business development at National Semiconductor.
Two years after opening White Oak Semiconductor in a joint venture with Motorola, Infineon Technologies has finalized its takeover of the Richmond, VA, DRAM fab. Munich-based Infineon reportedly purchased Motorola's 49% stake in White Oak for $125 million. The deal has received approval from US antitrust authorities. Infineon and Motorola continue to operate the Semiconductor300 joint venture in Dresden, Germany, but the project is due for review this year.
Numerical Technologies has enhanced its Virtual Stepper Systems with an Internet link that should remove communication barriers for semiconductor manufacturers. The Internet connection will enable engineers to communicate, in real time, with all areas of the semiconductor manufacturing processes that need analysis of reticle inspection data. NumeriTech believes the offering will allow problems to be solved quicker.
Nanya Technology, San Jose, CA, is now shipping PC 133 64Mb DRAMs based on IBM technology. Under the terms of the agreement, IBM has supplied Nanya with its 64Mb and 256 Mb DRAM designs as well as its 0.20 and 0.175mm process technologies. Nanya is permitted to sell the DRAM chips under its own name on the open market.
Arch Chemicals, Norwalk CT, and Wacker Silicones Corp., Adrian, MI have formed a new companyy called Planar Solutions LLC to produce slurries for chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). Arch and Wacker have had a joint development agreement to create new products since June 1998. The companies felt it was necessary to form a separate entity to advance their efforts in CMP.
Novotech, Inc., Acton, MA, a global supplier of specialty metals, has acquired a majority interest in Riotech Inc., Lakeside, AZ, a semiconductor and specialty materials shaping and polishing plant.
AvantCom Network Inc., San Jose, CA, has completed its acquisition of the high-tech staffing solutions company, IC COMP. AvantCom Network expects the acquisition will further enable the company to deploy and integrate its real-time global network into the semiconductor industry.
JAPAN
Worldwide orders for semiconductor equipment from Japanese toolmakers came roaring back in February, totaling 155.6 billion yen (about US$1.49 billion) in the month, an 11.2% climb over January's figures and a 136.7% hike over year-ago levels, said the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) in a recent monthly report. The SEAJ said equipment sales figures moved up a notch in February for Japan-based tool suppliers, resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1.34. Sales totaled 121.2 billion yen, a 38.3% increase from January and 85.3% increase from last year. Sales of equipment into the Japanese market, including imports from foreign tool suppliers, totaled 59 billion yen, while orders from Japan's chipmakers totaled 65.4 billion yen. Both figures show significant month-to-month and year-over-year gains.
Japan's leading chip gear supplier Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), Tokyo, says it saw orders reach new levels in the first quarter of 2000, when bookings totaled 163.1 billion yen (about US$1.5 billion). The figure marks a 97% hike over last year's figures. By region, TEL said 28% of its orders were from Japan, 26% from Taiwan, and 18% from the US. This is the first quarter since the fourth quarter of calendar year 1998 in which Japan has surpassed Taiwan as the leading region driving TEL's order levels.
Oki Electric, Tokyo, plans to offer semiconductor production technologies (0.22mm and 0.18mm DRAMs, and 0.25mm logic LSIs) to the newly formed Swift Semiconductor foundry in Taiwan. Swift was established in January, and will begin production with 16Mb DRAM production in 2001. Oki, which has been outsourcing its DRAM production to other Taiwan fabs, plans to assist in Swift's startup.
The Tokyo-based Association of Super-Advanced Electronics Technologies (ASET) says it has begun an F2 laser lithography development project. The goal is to prepare F2 lasers for use in 157nm lithography systems by 2005-2008. Some 53 engineers from Nikon, Canon, Komatsu, and Ushio are working on the project.
Sumitomo Metal Industries, Osaka, and Mitsubishi Materials, Tokyo, will invest 50 billion yen (about US$479 million) to build a 300mm war manufacturing plant. The 50-50 joint venture, to be known as Silicon United Manufacturing, will have two locations. The first, a crystal growing facility, will be established at a Mitsubishi Materials subsidiary, Mitsubishi Materials Silicon, in Yamagata prefecture. A cutting and polishing plant will be set up in Sumitomo's Imari Plant on Kyushu Island. Construction of both facilities will begin this July. The joint venture will be operational in early 2002 with an initial capacity of 50,000 300mm wafers/month, followed by a doubling of capacity in 2003.
NEC, Tokyo, plans to invest roughly 45 billion yen (about US$431 million) to increase production of LCD driver chips in Japan and in the UK. The first plant, a 200mm fab at the company's NEC Kansai subsidiary in Otsu City, Shiga prefecture, will require investments of 35 billion yen. The fab will begin operations in November, with volume production following in 2001. The chipmaker plans to invest another 10 billion yen to expand NEC Semiconductors in Scotland, where LCD driver production will be added in the second half of this year.
In the second half of this year, NEC will start construction of a 300mm DRAM manufacturing plant in Hiroshima, Japan. The new fab is to be complete in 2001 and is slated for full operation in 2002. Also this year, NEC will start construction of a 300mm fab adjacent to its existing semiconductor plant in Roseville, CA. This fab is slated for completion in 2002 and expected to be operational in 2003.
Toshiba says it will invest $10 million in Tower's newest plant and has licensed its 0.15mm CMOS process technologies to the Israel-based foundry. The move comes as part of Toshiba's plan to outsource up to 20% of its semiconductor output as of 2002. In the deal with Tower, Toshiba has an option for additional investments and has secured capacity in Tower's new plant, which slated to begin operations in 2001.
ASIA PACIFIC
Entegris, Du Chaska, MN, has expanded its manufacturing capacity in Malaysia. The new facility will establish a center for Entegris' JEDEC matrix trays in Kulim, Malaysia. The expanding site was an Empak facility prior to its merger last year with Fluoroware, which formed Entegris. The site is under the direction of Chuck Eitel, managing director, and Frank Walsh, operations manager.
Due in part to ongoing expansions and recent mergers with TASMC, formerly Acer Semiconductor, and WSMC (World Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.), TSMC is naming its newest fab acquisitions Fab 7 and Fab 8, respectively. TSMC had originally named one of its 12-inch fabs (still under construction) Fab 7. Effective immediately that fab will be known as Fab 14. "In 1999, TSMC's annual capacity was 1.8 million eight-inch equivalent wafers. By the end of 2000, that number is expected to reach 3.4 million wafers," said F.C. Tseng, president, TSMC.
Winbond Electronics Corp., Taiwan, and Toshiba Corp., Japan, are joining forces to co-develop 0.13mm trench DRAM memory technology. Since 1995, the two companies have been working together jointly developing and sharing DRAM technology. The newest collaboration will be conducted at Toshiba's facilities in Japan and will be staffed by specialists from both companies.
Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Sunnyvale, CA, has signed an agreement with D2W (design-to-wafer services), a unit of Photronics Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, D2W will supply front-end data preparation services and provide some photomask consulting for Silterra's facility. The facility is expected to be in production in 3Q01.
1stSilicon Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has completed the first phase of its $1 billion 0.25-18mm wafer fab. 1st Silicon said phase one was completed ahead of schedule. Once complete, the headquarters will house some 700 employees. As of April, one third of them had moved into the new administrative building. The company expects to install equipment and qualify it by the end of the 2Q00.
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Penang, Malaysia, plans to invest $30.9 million into its test and assembly plant in Penang. The company is investing in new equipment that should increase production and capacity. Calling the investment good news for its 2200 employees, Kam-Foo Loh managing director of the plant said, "it represents continued faith in the quality of our work."
TSMC's newly opened Fab 6 is considered the largest, with almost four-football fields of cleanroom space. Fab 6 will feature technology ranging from 0.25-0.10mm and is expected to produce 32,000 8-inch wafers/ month by the end of the year. By the end of 2001, capacity is expected to increase to 50,000 8-inch wafers/month. The fab will also be fitted with the company's first 300mm pilot line. The fab is located in the Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park in Southern Taiwan.
EUROPE
Motorola will invest $2 billion in the Dunfermline, Scotland fab shell abandoned by Hyundai over two years ago. The empty wafer fab, which Motorola is buying from Hyundai for an undisclosed sum, is expected to produce a $2 billion annual revenue stream when production is fully ramped up in five years, according to a company spokesman. The fab, to be called MOS-18, is a 100,000 square meter facility on a 150-acre site. It will produce 200mm wafers, most likely starting with 0.35mm processing technologies, although plans are to move to 0.15mm geometries within a couple of years.
The SEZ Group, Villach, Austria, has entered into two joint development agreements with Semiconductor300, the JV between Infineon and Motorola. Under the terms of the first agreement, SEZ will deliver two spin-on processors, models 303 and 304, to Semiconductor 300. SC300 will use model 303 to evaluate cleaning and etch applications. In the second agreement, SC300 will use model 304 to test the Windows NT platform.
Germany's Infineon Technologies also has recently said it will transfer 300mm manufacturing expertise to its Taiwan-based ProMOS joint venture with Mosel Vitelic. ProMOS plans to use the 300mm technology at its existing empty cleanroom in Hsinchu, Taiwan; equipment installation is slated to begin in the second half of 2001.
Philips Semiconductors and STMicro-electronics say they plan to build a $700 million pilot and R&D 300mm fab in Crolles, France. The two chipmakers plan to share both the investment and fab output equally. Current plans call for the 300mm line to be built on the same campus as STMicroelectronics' existing Crolles 1 fab; site preparation has begun. The line will have an initial capacity of 1000 wafers/week, producing ASIC products such as wireless cellular ICs and digital consumer ICs. With additional investment from Philips and STMicroelectron-ics, the fab could be ramped to about 2000 wafers/week — roughly equal to a 200mm fab running at about 5000 wafer starts/week.
Cymer Inc., San Diego, CA, and ASM Lithography Holding NV, have entered into an agreement under which Cymer will provide worldwide direct service and spare parts for its lasers that are installed on ASML steppers and scanners. Under the terms of the agreement, chipmakers will contact Cymer directly for excimer laser services and parts.
Out with the old...well, maybe not yet
 |
Some things in the semiconductor industry aren't changing as quickly as we thought. Case in point, this year will see about 21.2 million wafers being produced using one micron technology, the majority of which will be for analog and discrete semiconductors. While we are seeing few MPU, DSP, DRAM, flash memory or ASIC chips using that technology, it still produces the most 200mm wafers. By contrast there will be approximately 6.6 million wafers produced with 0.18mm technologies and DRAMs will lead the way with 3.3 million wafers. Worth noting is the difference between 1.0 to 0.18mm production. It seems that what has been labeled as "old" technology and equipment is still being used and is producing the highest volumes of wafers. — M.V., P.D.
Asia Pacific biggest mover in SIA report
 |
Worldwide semiconductor sales totaled $14.56 billion in February, a slight drop from January's figures of $14.8 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Asia Pacific saw the biggest month-to-month change, with a decrease in sales of 3.4% in February. Sales in the Americas market declined 1.3% in the month, followed by 0.8% decline in Europe, and Japan experienced a loss in sales of 0.1%. On a year-to-year basis, all regions are still seeing double-digit growth (see table). Asia Pacific saw the biggest increase of 45.4% in sales; Japan followed with 42.5%. Compared to last year, America's sales increased by 24.7% and Europe saw an increase of 25.1%.
Purchase Orders
Japan Steel Works (JSW), an integrator/manufacturer of steels and machinery, has placed multiple orders totaling more than $11 million with Lambda Physik and MicroLas Lasersystem GmbH. The high power, industrial excimer lasers and line beam optics will be integrated into JSW's TFT annealing systems. The systems use excimer laser radiation for the polycrystallization of amorphous silicone thin film on substrates. MicroLas Lasersystem GmbH is a joint venture company of Lambda Physik and Jenoptik. MicroLas develops and manufactures UV optics for excimer laser-based applications. First shipments will start next month.
Applied Science and Technology Inc. has announced that Chipbond Technology Corp., HsinChu, Taiwan, has ordered multiple Nimbus 300 sputtering systems to meet its production needs for under-bump metallurgy for flip-chip advanced packaging. Chipbond selected the Nimbus 300 system because of its in-line design and flexibility for accommodating a wide variety of wafer sizes up to 300mm.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd., Israel, has signed a wafer supply agreement with National Semiconductor. Under the terms of the agreement, Tower will manufacture IC wafers for National for the next two years. "National's strategy has been to team with foundry suppliers who are integrated into our supply chain and can deliver added value to our customers," said Will Cuellar, senior manager of business development at National Semiconductor.
FSI International, Minneapolis, MN, has received a $90 million purchase order for its Polaris 3500 Resist Processing Cluster product. The tools will be used in a 300mm production facility located in the US, but company officials declined to name their customer. "Up until this time we've received orders for 300mm R&D and pilot lines; we are now seeing commitments for production lines," said Ardy Johnson VP of sales and marketing for FSI's microlithography division.
BOC Edwards, Wilmington, MA, said it will supply Texas Instruments' 300mm DMOS6 facility with chemical and gas delivery systems. Delivery is expected to take place in July and continue through October.
Clarification
On the May cover, the correct projected production rate for the IBM system should have been listed as >40 200mm wafers/hr.