As part of its Asia-Pacific initiative, the Fabless Semiconductor Association has established its regional headquarters in Taiwan. Jeremy Wang has been named executive director of the office.

The trade group has also created the Asia-Pacific Fabless Leadership Council, which will send a delegate to FSA's quarterly board meetings. The association says that the council will focus initially on identifying and addressing key topics for the Asian semiconductor community by hosting several educational events and forums, including the FSA's Taiwan Suppliers Expo in 2004. The first event, cohosted with Semico Research in Taipei on January 8, 2004, will be a forum titled "90 Nanometer and Beyond." The organization will also globalize such publications as its quarterly wafer pricing and fabless funding reports, collecting data from relevant Asian companies.

In related news, FSA has released its Handbook to Asia-Pacific Expansion: A Focus on Mainland China. The association says it developed the book to help members and other chip companies through the process of establishing business operations in mainland China. Documents contained in the publication include first-hand case studies from businesses with Chinese facilities, a white paper on the Chinese semiconductor industry, and profiles of Asian integrated-device manufacturers and fabless companies. The handbook will be updated periodically and is available at www.fsa.org.

Novellus, Fudan U. partner

Fudan University and Novellus Systems have signed a partnership agreement to establish a semiconductor manufacturing technology facility. Called the Fudan-Novellus Interconnect Research Center, the Shanghai site will be equipped with a full suite of Novellus's copper tools. It will serve as a regional hub for copper interconnect technology research for university researchers and students, in addition to the equipment company's regional customers. Novellus says it will donate PECVD intermetal dielectric, copper CMP, and PVD barrier/seed systems, as well as a copper electrochemical deposition tool.

Fudan University will create a state-of-the-art collaboration facility to house the equipment and will also be responsible for staffing and maintaining the site. Although the center will initially be located on the university's Handan Road campus, it will be relocated to its Zhangjiang campus in the heart of Shanghai Pudong's chip manufacturing district.

"Fudan's reputation as a leading incubator of China's new-generation technologists, along with its proximity to the region's semiconductor manufacturers, were the deciding factors in our choice of partner for this significant endeavor," says Chien Chiang, Novellus's vp of R&D. Commenting on the partnership, university president Wang Shenghong notes that "the four donated systems for IC interconnect and deposition technology research will play a very important role in bolstering Fudan University's microelectronics talent, cultivating technological expertise, and inspiring industry cooperation."

Air Prods, SinoMOS ink deal

Air Products and SinoMOS Semiconductor have signed a 15-year on-site supply contract for clean dry air (CDA) and bulk gases for the Chinese chip company's new 150-mm fab in the Ningbo Free Trade Zone, south of Shanghai. Air Products will supply a CDA system, 20 high-purity nitrogen generators, and various bulk-gas delivery systems to the site. An in-fab gas distribution contractor at SinoMOS placed a separate order for 31 gas cabinets and racks with San Fu Gases, a Taiwanese company in which Air Products has a 70% interest. Korea-based Han Yang Technology, another Air Products–controlled firm, will manufacture the gas-handling equipment for the job.

Trebor grows in Japan

Trebor will get increased field service and customer support for its DI-water-heater lines in Japan as a result of a distribution agreement signed with SC Semicon Technology, a division of Sumitomo. Trebor, a Salt Lake City–based unit of IDEX specializing in high-purity fluid-handling products, says that by joining forces with SC Semicon, it has positioned itself strategically to better respond to the growing demands of the Asian semiconductor market. In addition to representing companies such as Strasbaugh, Temescal, OnWafer Technologies, and Hypernex, SC Semicon is one of the leading Japanese suppliers of CMP systems.

Europe

Wacker consolidates, ramps

Silicon wafer supplier Wacker Siltronic will be shuttering 200-mm production at two German plants, while ramping 300-mm capacity at another. The 200-mm facilities in Wasserburg and Burghausen will be closed, as the company consolidates and maximizes its existing 200-mm production in Singapore; Hikari, Japan; and Portland, OR. The company says the moves will affect about 350 workers at Wasserburg and 260 in Burghausen, many of which will be offered jobs at Wacker's 300-mm plant under construction in Freiberg. The silicon supplier is investing more than €400 million in the new factory, which is scheduled to start production in 2004. Wacker already has 300-mm wafer-making capacity in place at its Hikari and Burghausen sites.