TSMC Breaks Ground for First 12-in. Fab

<%=company1%> (Hsin-Chu, Taiwan) held a groundbreaking ceremony in the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park (HSIP) on the company's first 12-in. (300-mm) wafer fab. The new fab, known as Fab 12, is now officially under construction. The superstructure is expected to be finished by the end of year 2000, followed by the installation of the cleanroom. Equipment move-in will begin in the year 2001, with mass production commencing in early 2002.

Fab 12 will pilot run with 0.15/0.13µm process technology, and then evolve to 0.1µm. Fab 12 is expected to produce a variety of logic, memory, and chip set products, and the total capacity will reach 25,000 12-in. wafers per month. Some additional Fab 12 capacity will be reserved for research and development of the new 0.1um and more advanced process technology.

TSMC Fab 12 shares its fabrication site with TSMC's affiliate, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation, on 40-hectares of land in HSIP Phase III. Even though the two companies will build their own 12-in. fabs to different time schedules, TSMC and Vanguard have put into consideration a joint plant designed to provide each other with mutual support on Logic and DRAM fabrication, production capacity, and facility engineering.