Intel Begins Construction of the World’s First 450mm Semiconductor Facility

From X-bit Labs: Intel Corp. on Friday confirmed the beginning of construction of the fab D1X module 2. The new facility will be the world’s first semiconductor manufacturing factory processing 450mm wafers, which will be used primarily for development purposes and which will lead the way for the whole multi-billion dollar industry.

“Construction of D1X module 2 has begun,” said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel, during a brief conversation with X-bit labs.

Mr. Mulloy did not produce any more details about the project that is supposed to cost Intel about $2 billion only this year, it is unclear at what stage the construction is and when exactly it is projected to be completed. In fact, the only thing we do know about the schedule for the fab D1X module 2 is a short comment made by Intel’s chief financial officer earlier this year.

“We will spend roughly $2 billion to start building our first 450mm [D1X module 2] development facility [in 2013]. […] When we look at 2015 as the time when we can have [450mm] equipment available, we want to start […] construction of a big development facility [now]. [Construction] is typically a couple of year’s cycle,” said Stacy Smith, the chief financial officer of Intel.

D1X module 2 is about the same size (1.1 million square feet, 106.1 thousand of square meters) as the original fab D1X and is built specifically for 450mm wafers. When the second module is complete, it will start up on 450mm wafers once it is equipped with appropriate manufacturing tools and gear.

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