Intel, Samsung, & TSMC push for bigger silicon wafers

When the semiconductor industry first started making microchips on round silicon discs, those discs were often one or two inches in diameter, and they came to be known as “wafers.” By the mid-1970s, chip makers were standardizing on silicon wafers measuring 100mm (about four inches) across. In the past decade, the most advanced chip factories were built to handle wafers spanning 300mm, or one foot, by English measure.

In recent years, the industry quietly debated the transition to the next generation of silicon wafers. They would be wider, of course, since bigger wafers mean you can fabricate more chips on one piece of silicon, making manufacturing more efficient. But how much wider? And, more importantly, when? The costly and painful transition from 200mm to 300mm wafers is fresh in many people’s minds, especially in the semiconductor capital equipment business. Equipment vendors were pressured into developing 300mm-capable systems in the late 1990s, only to see chip makers put off their plans for building 300mm wafer fabrication facilities (aka fabs) well into the 21st century. The equipment people had to grit their teeth and bear years of red ink for R&D that didn’t pay off for a long time.

While some small firms, such as Ball Semiconductor and Cubic Wafer, offer manufacturing alternatives to the flat and ever-widening silicon wafer, most chip makers are likely to stay the course with the good ol’ wafer.

In light of the business doldrums currently besetting the semiconductor industry, many chip companies are willing to let the debate on wafer diameters simmer for a few more years. To which three of the biggest chip makers in the world are saying: Let’s kick out the jams!

Intel, Samsung Electronics, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) last month announced that they agree the industry should start preparing for a worldwide transition to 450mm silicon wafers. When? Starting in 2012, they say.

These three companies have the heft and influence to drive such a transition. Intel is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, measured by sales, and the top supplier of microprocessors. Samsung is the second biggest chip maker in the world and the leading supplier of memory devices. TSMC is No. 1 among silicon foundries (contract semiconductor manufacturers), the chip makers that allow thousands of companies to turn out microchips without having their own fabs.

Other chip makers (and many equipment vendors) see the industry transition to 300mm fabs as incomplete and falling short of efficiency expectations. Some back a productivity initiative called 300mm Prime, calling for automation improvements to make 300mm fabs more efficient. There are still many 200mm fabs around the world, profitably churning out older, less sophisticated products. Some parties see the industry eventually making a transition to 450mm wafers, but several years later than Intel/Samsung/TSMC would like.

Whatever position prevails, I personally believe it’s well past time to stop calling these gigantic slices of silicon “wafers.” Something 12 inches or 18 inches wide just is not a wafer! I serve up the suggestion of substituting “platter” as a replacement for “wafer” in semiconductor manufacturing.