Germany To Produce 300mm Raw Wafers
President/CEO Dr Peter-Alexander Wacker says: “When fully expanded, the new large-wafer production facility in Freiberg will almost triple our existing capacities in Burghausen, Germany, and Hikari, Japan. This will make Freiberg the third pillar of our worldwide manufacturing network for the 300mm technology of the future. We plan to send a certain portion of the wafer substrates from Freiberg to Taiwan for epitaxial processing in close proximity to customers there.”
The main factors in favour of Freiberg were existing infrastructure, availability of qualified specialists and cooperation and incentives from Saxony. Germany's federal government and the state of Saxony are providing regional development funding for the project.
When fully completed, the project will have received public financial support amounting to 20-30% of the total. Payment of the subsidy is firmly tied to the progress of expansion plans and associated employment growth. The German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has previously provided support for the development of 300mm technology to the tune of EUR25.8mn.
Outside Japan, Wacker Siltronic is the only company capable of manufacturing 300mm wafers on an industrial scale. With a market share of about 20%, Wacker sees itself as one of the three leading suppliers of large wafers.
