INDUSTRY NEWS

Consortia announce historic accord on 300-mm guideline

SAN FRANCISCO—Trumpeting it as a historic moment, representatives from a U.S.-based consortium and a Japanese semiconductor industry consortium announced they had reached agreement on materials and equipment guidelines to expedite the 300-mm wafer transition. The announcement by I300I and its Japanese counterpart, J300, came at a SEMI-sponsored news luncheon held during the annual Semicon West trade show here in mid-July.

Speaking at the luncheon, SEMI president Stanley Myers noted that the transition "is the first move to a larger wafer driven by consortia." The cooperative effort, he added, "shortened the transition by two to three years." SEMI estimates that the changeover will cost the equipment and materials industry approximately $14 billion. The trade association, which calls the switch possibly the largest single industrial transition in history, facilitated the accord.

Triumphant Triumvirate: J300's Toshio Nohara, SEMI's Geaorge Lee, and I300I's Frank Robertson (left to right) mark signing of global 300-mm accord.

The consortia agreed late last year to combine their efforts in order to minimize the cost of the changeover for IC manufacturers and suppliers. The joint guidelines they produced are contained in a 33-page document, Global Joint Guidance for 300 mm Semiconductor Factories, which was released at the trade show. The document makes specific recommendations to both chipmakers and vendors. Requirements IC manufacturers must meet to derive the most benefit from the transition include decreasing the cost of devices per square centimeter of silicon, minimizing the options for toolmakers by fostering global direction for vendors, and increasing both the effectiveness of their fab investments and their equipment utilization. General guidelines for suppliers include the need for automation, simplified automated material-handling interfaces, and the use of front-opening unified pod and open cassette carriers as the preferred option with the SEMI standard load port.

Frank Robertson, vice president and general manager of I300I, said that the unprecedented agreement "reduced the total cost of the transition, which no single company can afford any more." He added that the development of standards presents all participants with "a heavy workload for this year and early next year." Toshio Nohara, chairman of J300, noted that discussions on the need "to make good global standards" that began in December 1996 between I300I and his consortium had borne fruit, concluding, "Today completes that idea."

I300I is based at Sematech in Austin, TX, and has 13 members among the chipmaking community in the United States, Europe, and Asia. J300 has 10 member companies, all based in Japan. George Lee, SEMI's 300-mm initiative director, noted during SEMI's news conference on the trade show's opening day that IBM and Intel had spearheaded the previous transitions to the 6- and 8-in. wafer sizes, respectively. He pointed out that both consortia have 30 to 40 tools scheduled for demonstration "in the next 12 months.

"The driver in this transition is productivity," Lee remarked. At the current yield rate, he said chipmakers would realize the benefit of 21/2 more good die per wafer than are provided by the 200-mm substrate, a reduction in chip manufacturing costs of 20 to 30% per square centimeter, and a drop in cost per chip of 30 to 40%.

Lee said that a total of 18 pilot lines would be "up and running globally" by the end of 1999, adding that no new 200-mm fabs will be built after 2000. At least nine of the pilot lines with wafer starts of 500 to 1000 per month are expected to begin operating between the second half of 1998 and the first half of 1999. SEMI head Myers, a former president of Mitsubishi Silicon America, said that, despite a question of timing in the short term, major silicon suppliers will be able to produce between 2000 and 3000 of the larger wafers monthly.

SEMI's Lee, J300's Nohara, and I300I's Robertson explain new 300-mm guidelines during Semicon West news luncheon.

"A year and a half ago the skepticism was still there," said a clearly pleased Lee. "Everyone is surprised at how fast this transition is happening. It is a momentous time in the industry's history." SEMI credits the global cooperation on standards for the ease of this transition.

The guidance document written by the two consortia differentiates among requirements, guidelines, standards, and recommendations. Requirements are "business drivers that determine what the device manufacturing companies must accomplish in their operations to meet cost and technology goals." Guidelines are "statements that define device companies' intended and/or projected configurations and modes of operations for factories and equipment." Standards are "voluntary technical agreements between suppliers and customers," while recommendations are "preferred approaches for design consideration."

These are some of the main points covered in the guidance document:

• IC manufacturers share requirements that fall into two primary categories of what is needed for them "to migrate to larger wafer sizes and what is required to optimize the factory."

• To remain competitive, chipmakers must continuously decrease the manufacturing cost per unit. Equipment and factory costs "should not increase as much as the wafer area increases, and the equipment throughput in wafers per hour should be equal to or greater than the previous wafer size generation."

• Chipmakers should learn from past conversions that (1) early standardization reduces options that put undue burdens on suppliers, and (2) the first pilot-line production equipment set should be completely production ready. Production-ready gear will eliminate the need for upgrades or replacement equipment when chipmakers emerge from the start-up phase and begin volume production.

• Semiconductor manufacturers around the world should give equipment suppliers clear, uniform direction in order to minimize the options confronting suppliers. Clear, consistent direction would reduce development costs and enable suppliers to deliver equipment at the right time to their customers.

• IC manufacturers must optimize the use of their resources at all levels. This includes optimal use of equipment, fab, and business plan.

• Fabs should be designed so that they can be upgraded to manufacture next-generation chips "with minimum introduction of new equipment and with minimum impact to layout and material logistics."

• Increase factory output by increasing wafer throughput, wafer yield, and die yield.

• Improve worker productivity and safety. The consortia note that a front-opening unified pod carrying 25 300-mm wafers weighs approximately 8 kg, more than 17 lb. This ergonomic limitation mandates that 300-mm fabs have automated or mechanized carrier handling.

• Decreases in time to market, operational costs, WIP inventory, footprint, and material consumption are needed.

• Because automation is a must, suppliers of process and metrology gear must provide automation interfaces such as load port and electronic interfaces to support both intrabay and interbay material handling.

• Front-opening unified pods and open cassettes are "the number-one priority for 1997­1998." Both carrier options must be immediately compatible with load port interfaces and handling systems.

• Since standardization is important to controlling costs, the number of wafer carrier species must be minimized.

• Process and metrology gear must be able to operate in a cleanroom temperature range of 21° to 24°C and in a cleanroom humidity range of 35 to 55% RH.

Attending the luncheon, former Ambassador Michael Smith, a veteran U.S. trade negotiator, alluded to the trade friction between American and Japanese semiconductor manufacturers during the 1980s. He praised both consortia for sitting down and working out an agreement on their own. "It's just a landmark . . . getting to this magic stage. Ten years ago it would have been hard to imagine this scene."

The accord, Smith continued, will enable chipmakers to "save money for themselves and ultimately for the consumer. So, it's full speed ahead. Let's not stop here."

A copy of Global Joint Guidance for 300 mm Semiconductor Factories is available from I300I at 512/356-3232; fax, 512/356-3305.

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