Alliances
International (SMIC) of China are to co-operate on the production of standard memory chips (DRAMs).
Infineon will transfer its 0.14µm DRAM trench technology to SMIC, with an option for future transfer of its 0.11µm technology. SMIC will manufacture these particular products exclusively for
Infineon.
The 0.14µm technology will be implemented on an existing 200mm SMIC facility in Shanghai. Qualification of products is scheduled for mid-2003. SMIC will start production with 256Mbit double data rate (DDR) memory chips.
Following ramp up, Infineon will be able to increase its overall capacity by around 20,000 wafer starts per month by 2005.
Chemical mechanical planarisation (CMP) slurr y supplier Cabot Microelectronics has formed an alliance with Ondeo Nalco to provide sourcing solutions for wastewater management and water recycle (WWM/WR) to CMP customers. Ondeo Nalco will deliver the WWM/WR to customers.
“Among the critical issues facing semiconductor manufacturers are increasingly stringent requirements for reducing wastewater generation and water usage,” explains Jeremy Jones, Cabot vice-president for New Business Development.
Swiss computer modelling company Integrated Systems Engineering (ISE) has formed a partnership with Germany simulation company SIGMA-C.
Subwavelength lithography simulation software (SOLID-CTM) from SIGMA-C will be included in ISE's technical computer aided design(TCAD) package for physical process and device simulation.
SiRF Technology and Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS) have agreed to join forces on a line of location-aware wireless baseband and applications processor chipsets. This will integrate SiRFs SiRFstarII Global Positioning System (GPS) cores with Motorola wireless baseband and applications processors.
Motorola intends to implement an enhanced version of SiRFs RF IC technology using the silicon germanium:carbon module of its RF BiCMOS wafer process. The companies will jointly market a series of wireless/GPS chipsets for use in the GSM, GPRS and 3G cellular markets, as well as for PDAs. The first devices from this agreement - a GPS RF receiver IC - is already in sampling. Products are to be available from SPS beginning in Q2 2003.
