INDUSTRY NEWS

TSMC delivers first wafers

TSMC has delivered high-yield 300-mm wafers to customers from its Fab 6 pilot line in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Yield was higher than expected for the initial run, which the foundry accomplished sooner than scheduled. TSMC used JEDEC test wafers for process and equipment characterization. The foundry says using JEDEC-standard test chips enabled it to speed up the delivery of the wafers. On November 16 TSMC announced it had begun processing the semiconductor industry's first 300-mm wafers at the site using designs from customers such as Altera and Brilliance Semiconductor. Altera designs programmable logic devices. Brilliance is a Taiwan-based supplier of SRAMs for portable use.

TSMC is in the process of building two 300-mm fabs, Fab 12 in Hsinchu and Fab 14 in Tainan. Fab 12 is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2001; Fab 14 will begin production in early 2002. Construction of a third 300-mm fab will get under way in the first quarter of 2001, TSMC says.

Dainippon building tool plant

Dainippon Screen is nearing completion of an $18.3-million plant for its line of 300-mm wafer cleaning products. Called FCI, the three-story building will measure approximately 33,000 sq ft. Construction is set for completion in March. The plant is located at Dainippon Screen's Hikone manufacturing site in Japan's Shinga Prefecture. It will manufacture the company's FC-3000 line of single-bath wafer-cleaning equipment, producing 100 units in the plant's first year of operation. Macrotron of Munich distributes Dainippon's equipment in Europe.

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