Japan

04/01/1998

Japan

Fujitsu and Sony will share the costs of a new 100 billion yen ($787 million), 18-nm system LSI fabrication line to be built at Fujitsu`s Mie Plant, Mie Prefecture, near Nagoya. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in the fall of 1999. Under the deal, Fujitsu will provide Sony with an 18-nm manufacturing process for use on system LSI devices. The firms will establish a cooperative environment for design of 18-nm generation circuits, and will share a basic cell library. Costs of the fab will be split 50/50 between Fujitsu and Sony.

The Japanese ASET research organization, in conjunction with SEMATECH and the Belgian IMEC organization, have sponsored a get-together in Kyoto for officials from the US Semiconductor Industry Association and representatives of comparable groups from Europe and South Korea in an effort to coordinate roadmapping of semiconductor technology on a worldwide basis.