Intel to convert Arizona plant to 300 mm

In its march toward smaller, faster chips and more efficient manufacturing, Intel plans to convert a 200-millimeter wafer fabrication plant in Arizona so it can produce 300-millimeter wafers beginning in late 2005.

The 300-millimeter wafers, with a diameter of about 12 inches, will have more than twice the silicon surface area of the 200mm wafers the fab produces now. The larger wafer size can accommodate 240 percent more individual chips, reducing the production cost per chip while also requiring 40 percent less energy and water per chip, according to an Intel statement.

The conversion project, expected to cost about $2 billion, will begin in the first half of 2004.

When 300mm operations begin at the Chandler, Arizona, fab, it will use a 65-nanometer process technology, producing chips with transistor gates just 65 nanometers long. The most dense current process technology being used in mass production is 130 nanometers. As chips get more dense, generally they can deliver higher speeds at lower prices while consuming less power.

The Chandlerfab will be the fifth 300-millimeter plant for Intel, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif. The company has two in operation now, in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Rio Rancho, N.M. Another in Oregon will start up later this year, and one is under construction in Ireland and set to begin operations in the first half of next year.