MICRO: 300-mm Imperative

UMCi will begin the second phase of tool installation at its 300-mm fab in Singapore. The fab's parent, the foundry UMC, approved move-in of FEOL equipment at the most recent meeting of its board of directors. UMCi has been processing high-yielding 300-mm wafers with defect densities comparable to those of Fab 12A, its plant in Tainan, Taiwan. UMCi is a joint venture with Infineon Technologies and the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

The UMCi fab makes ICs at the 90-nm node. Investment in the facility will grow to $500 million by the end of 2003, the company says. Capacity will reach 10,000 300-mm wafers per month with total investment at $1.2 billion by the end of 2004. All FEOL equipment will be installed by January of next year, UMC says.

Meanwhile, Asyst Technologies says it has received a multi-million-dollar order from UMCi for Asyst's 300-mm automated material-handling system. The installation will combine Asyst-Shinko material-handling technology and Asyst's FasTrack "continuous flow" technology. FasTrack technology is capable of delivering material from tool to tool four times faster than conventional systems using material-handling vehicles, the supplier claims.

TEL is ready to ship the first of its iODP100 modules for the supplier's 300-mm coater-developer. Volume shipments of the module for use with the vendor's Clean Track Lithius tool will begin before the end of September, TEL says. The new coater-developer is built on the platform of TEL's Clean Track ACT tool. The new system is designed for use at 70 nm. The Lithius system accommodates metrology modules, TEL says, adding that macro inspection and CD capabilities are also available in separate modules.

A North American chipmaker described as a major manufacturer of logic ICs has ordered strip systems from Mattson Technology, the vendor announced. The 300-mm Aspect II ICP tools will be used for advanced low-k processing and related BEOL resist strip and residue removal. The first of the tools shipped in May 2003. Two previous versions of the dry-strip system are installed at fabs operated worldwide by the device manufacturer, Mattson says.

A Japanese electronics company has chosen radio-frequency ID tags from Asyst Technologies for its first 300-mm fab, the vendor announced. The unnamed manufacturer joined another large 300-mm factory in Southeast Asia in selecting the vendor's AdvanTag RFIDs as a "tool of record." The automated system uses Microtags attached to components such as FOUPs, lots, and pods to track each asset as it moves among tools in the fab, Asyst says. AdvanTag readers are integrated in loadports, material-handling systems, sorters, and related fab equipment.

The California-based supplier of fab automation systems says it especially welcomed the orders because it has sold fewer RFIDs in Japan than in other regions.

INDUSTRY NEWS

300-mm Imperative

UMCi installing more tools