Semiconductor fabrication plant - Wikipedia

In the microelectronics industry, a semiconductor fabrication plant is a factory where devices such as integrated circuits are manufactured. Semiconductorfabricationplant FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch Factorywhereintegratedcircuitsaremanufactured Partsofthisarticle(thoserelatedtothecurrentstateoftheart)needtobeupdated.Pleasehelpupdatethisarticletoreflectrecenteventsornewlyavailableinformation.(September2020) GlobalfoundriesFab 1inDresden,Germany.Thelargesquareshouselargecleanrooms. ExternalimagePhotooftheinteriorofacleanroomofa300mmfabrunbyTSMC Inthemicroelectronicsindustry,asemiconductorfabricationplant(commonlycalledafab;sometimesfoundry)isafactorywheredevicessuchasintegratedcircuitsaremanufactured.[1] Fabsrequiremanyexpensivedevicestofunction.EstimatesputthecostofbuildinganewfaboveronebillionU.S.dollarswithvaluesashighas$3–4billionnotbeinguncommon.TSMCinvested$9.3billioninitsFab15300 mmwafermanufacturingfacilityinTaiwan.[2]Thesamecompanyestimationssuggestthattheirfuturefabmightcost$20billion.[3]Afoundrymodelemergedinthe1990s:Foundriesthatproducedtheirowndesignswereknownasintegrateddevicemanufacturers(IDMs).Companiesthatfarmedoutmanufacturingoftheirdesignstofoundriesweretermedfablesssemiconductorcompanies.Thosefoundries,whichdidnotcreatetheirowndesigns,werecalledpure-playsemiconductorfoundries.[4] Thecentralpartofafabisthecleanroom,anareawheretheenvironmentiscontrolledtoeliminatealldust,sinceevenasinglespeckcanruinamicrocircuit,whichhasnanoscalefeaturesmuchsmallerthandustparticles.Thecleanroommustalsobedampedagainstvibrationtoenablenanometer-scalealignmentofmachinesandmustbekeptwithinnarrowbandsoftemperatureandhumidity.Vibrationcontrolmaybeachievedbyusingdeeppilesinthecleanroom'sfoundationthatanchorthecleanroomtothebedrock,carefulselectionoftheconstructionsite,and/orusingvibrationdampers.Controllingtemperatureandhumidityiscriticalforminimizingstaticelectricity.Coronadischargesourcescanalsobeusedtoreducestaticelectricity.Often,afabwillbeconstructedinthefollowingmanner:(fromtoptobottom):theroof,whichmaycontainairhandlingequipmentthatdraws,purifiesandcoolsoutsideair,anairplenumfordistributingtheairtoseveralfloor-mountedfanfilterunits,whicharealsopartofthecleanroom'sceiling,thecleanroomitself,whichmayormaynothavemorethanonestory,[5]areturnairplenum,thecleansubfabthatmaycontainsupportequipmentforthemachinesinthecleanroomsuchaschemicaldelivery,purification,recyclinganddestructionsystems,andthegroundfloor,thatmaycontainelectricalequipment.Fabsalsooftenhavesomeofficespace. Thecleanroomiswhereallfabricationtakesplaceandcontainsthemachineryforintegratedcircuitproductionsuchassteppersand/orscannersforphotolithography,inadditiontoetching,cleaning,dopinganddicingmachines.Allthesedevicesareextremelypreciseandthusextremelyexpensive.Pricesformostcommonpiecesofequipmentfortheprocessingof300 mmwafersrangefrom$700,000toupwardsof$4,000,000eachwithafewpiecesofequipmentreachingashighas$340,000,000each(e.g.EUVscanners).Atypicalfabwillhaveseveralhundredequipmentitems. Contents 1History 2Seealso 3Notes 4References 5Furtherreading History[edit] Typicallyanadvanceinchip-makingtechnologyrequiresacompletelynewfabtobebuilt.Inthepast,theequipmenttooutfitafabwasnotveryexpensiveandtherewereahugenumberofsmallerfabsproducingchipsinsmallquantities.However,thecostofthemostup-to-dateequipmenthassincegrowntothepointwhereanewfabcancostseveralbilliondollars. Anothersideeffectofthecosthasbeenthechallengetomakeuseofolderfabs.Formanycompaniestheseolderfabsareusefulforproducingdesignsforuniquemarkets,suchasembeddedprocessors,flashmemory,andmicrocontrollers.However,forcompanieswithmorelimitedproductlines,itisoftenbesttoeitherrentoutthefab,orcloseitentirely.Thisisduetothetendencyofthecostofupgradinganexistingfabtoproducedevicesrequiringnewertechnologytoexceedthecostofacompletelynewfab. Therehasbeenatrendtoproduceeverlargerwafers,soeachprocessstepisbeingperformedonmoreandmorechipsatonce.Thegoalistospreadproductioncosts(chemicals,fabtime)overalargernumberofsaleablechips.Itisimpossible(oratleastimpracticable)toretrofitmachinerytohandlelargerwafers.[citationneeded]Thisisnottosaythatfoundriesusingsmallerwafersarenecessarilyobsolete;olderfoundriescanbecheapertooperate,havehigheryieldsforsimplechipsandstillbeproductive. Theindustrywasaimingtomovefromthestate-of-the-artwafersize300 mm(12 in)to450 mmby2018.[6]InMarch 2014,Intelexpected450 mmdeploymentby2020.[7]Butin2016,correspondingjointresearcheffortswerestopped.[8] Additionally,thereisalargepushtocompletelyautomatetheproductionofsemiconductorchipsfrombeginningtoend.Thisisoftenreferredtoasthe"lights-outfab"concept. TheInternationalSematechManufacturingInitiative(ISMI),anextensionoftheUSconsortiumSEMATECH,issponsoringthe"300 mmPrime"initiative.Animportantgoalofthisinitiativeistoenablefabstoproducegreaterquantitiesofsmallerchipsasaresponsetoshorterlifecyclesseeninconsumerelectronics.Thelogicisthatsuchafabcanproducesmallerlotsmoreeasilyandcanefficientlyswitchitsproductiontosupplychipsforavarietyofnewelectronicdevices.Anotherimportantgoalistoreducethewaitingtimebetweenprocessingsteps.[9][10] Seealso[edit] Foundrymodelforthebusinessaspectsoffoundriesandfablesscompanies Klaiber'slaw Listofsemiconductorfabricationplants Rock'slaw Semiconductorconsolidation Semiconductordevicefabricationfortheprocessofmanufacturingdevices Notes[edit] ^Brown,Clair;Linden,Greg(2011).Chipsandchange :howcrisisreshapesthesemiconductorindustry(1st ed.).Cambridge,Mass.:MITPress.ISBN 9780262516822. ^BeginsConstructiononGigafabInCentralTaiwanArchived2012-01-29attheWaybackMachine,issuedbyTSMC,16July2010 ^"TSMCsays3nmplantcouldcostitmorethan$20bn-TheINQUIRER".theinquirer.net.Archivedfromtheoriginalon12October2017.Retrieved26April2018.{{citeweb}}:CS1maint:unfitURL(link) ^Mutschler,AnnSteffora(2008)."Pure-playfoundriescomprise84%ofmarket,ICInsightssays".ElectronicsNews.Australia:ReedBusinessInformationPtyLtd,adivisionofReedElsevierInc. ^"SYNUSTech". ^2011ReportArchived2012-07-10attheWaybackMachine-InternationalTechnologyRoadmapforSemiconductors ^"Intelsays450 mmwilldeploylaterindecade".2014-03-18.Archivedfromtheoriginalon2014-05-13.Retrieved2014-05-31. ^McGrath,Dylan."With450mmonIce,300mmShouldersHeavierLoad".Retrieved3January2021. ^ChipMakersWatchTheirWaste ^ISMIPressRelease References[edit] HandbookofSemiconductorManufacturingTechnology,SecondEditionbyRobertDoeringandYoshioNishi(Hardcover–Jul9,2007) SemiconductorManufacturingTechnologybyMichaelQuirkandJulianSerda(paperback–Nov19,2000) FundamentalsofSemiconductorManufacturingandProcessControlbyGaryS.MayandCostasJ.Spanos(hardcover–May22,2006) TheEssentialGuidetoSemiconductors(EssentialGuideSeries)byJimTurley(paperback–Dec29,2002) SemiconductorManufacturingHandbook(McGraw–HillHandbooks)byHwaiyuGeng(hardcover–April27,2005) Furtherreading[edit] "ChipMakersWatchTheirWaste",TheWallStreetJournal,July19,2007,p.B3 Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Semiconductor_fabrication_plant&oldid=1108134543" Categories:SemiconductordevicefabricationManufacturingplantsHiddencategories:WebarchivetemplatewaybacklinksCS1maint:unfitURLArticleswithshortdescriptionShortdescriptionisdifferentfromWikidataWikipediaarticlesinneedofupdatingfromSeptember2020AllWikipediaarticlesinneedofupdatingAllarticleswithunsourcedstatementsArticleswithunsourcedstatementsfromDecember2021 Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ArticleTalk English Views ReadEditViewhistory More Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationCitethispageWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Inotherprojects WikimediaCommons Languages CatalàDeutschEspañolفارسی한국어PortuguêsSlovenčinaSvenska中文 Editlinks