TSMC Begins to Build Second 300mm Factory to Produce 20nm Chips

From X-bit Labs: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Monday held a groundbreaking ceremony at the South Taiwan Science Park in Tainan for phase 5 of its Fab 14 GigaFab. When the factory is completed in two years from now, it will produce chips using 20nm process technology.

TSMC's 20nm technology is scheduled to begin volume production at TSMC's Fab 12 phase 6 next year. The Fab 14/phase 5 facility will be TSMC's second 20nm-capable fab, scheduled to begin volume production in early 2014. Combined with the planned Fab 14 phase 6, total cleanroom area will reach 87 000m2 square meters, four times larger than a typical 300mm fab – and will further strengthen TSMC's global competitiveness in advanced technologies. Building on TSMC's 28nm technology, TSMC also expects to launch its 20nm technology ahead of foundry peers.

“Our mission is to be the trusted technology and capacity provider of the global logic IC industry for years to come. In fulfilling this mission, we further solidify TSMC and Taiwan's indispensable position in the world semiconductor industry. This groundbreaking for Fab 14, phase 5 represents TSMC's capability to develop leading-edge technology, build advanced capacity, and satisfy customer demand. It also lays the foundation for TSMC's next wave of growth,” said Morris Chang, said chairman and chief executive officer of TSMC.

Fab 14 is TSMC's second 300mm fab following Fab 12 phase 1 facility that began volume production in 2004. With phases 1, 2, 3 and 4 now in operation, Fab 14 has capacity of 550 thousand 300mm wafers per quarter, making it the world's largest 300mm fab. The output of Fab 14 phases 1 through 4 has an estimated annual revenue of $6 billion, and TSMC expects the combined annual revenue of phases 5 and 6 to reach a similar scale.

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