Global semiconductor leaders agree on next wafer size at semi summit meeting; accord on 12-inch wafers and other areas of cooperation will have major impact on chip-production industry.

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1994--Delegates from virtually every semiconductor-producing region of the world attended a summit meeting here yesterday and agreed that the next generation of computer chips will be developed on 12-inch (300mm) silicon wafers.

The accord confirmed a tentative agreement reached in San Francisco in July but took a further step when the delegates also agreed to cooperate on the mechanics of how these large diameter wafers will be shaped, marked for identification and handled throughout the fabrication process that converts them to electronic circuitry.

The outcome of the summit, organized by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), had been clouded by the fact that some companies -- both U.S. and Japanese -- had been privately exploring the possibility of "leapfrogging" from the present standard eight-inch wafers to 16 inches.

This would have created an incredible burden on the support industry that must "grow" the silicon crystal ingots, slice and polish them and then develop new equipment on which to process them, according to Gordon Westwood, SEMI's director of technology.

The delegates, more than 70 in total, included representatives of all the leading government/industry consortia around the world, such as SEMATECH (U.S.), JESSI (Europe) and the Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ), as well as silicon suppliers like Wacker and Siltec, equipment companies such as Applied Materials, ASM Lithography, Lam Research and Tokyo Electron Ltd., and semiconductor producers from the U.S., Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

The agreement, made historic simply because these fiercely competitive countries reached it, will have enormous financial implications for the semiconductor industry, which is the driving force behind the explosion of electronics, computer and communications products throughout the world.

"Ultimately, the consumer will benefit from this agreement to cooperate in many `non-competitive' areas in the costly business of making computer chips," Westwood stated. He added, however, that the most immediate beneficiaries are the producers of the wafers and the equipment on which they are processed into finished circuitry, which is why SEMI initiated the discussions leading to this agreement on behalf of its members.

The advantage of moving to larger wafers is one of economics, since it means that more finished circuits can result from the same number of process steps. William R. Swiss, director of critical materials, information and planning at U.S.-based SEMATECH, presented to the summit results of a modeling study that indicates a possible overall per-device cost-reduction of 25-28 percent by converting to larger size wafers.

He said, however, that there was little difference economically in moving beyond 300mm at this time, given the trade-offs involved.

"It appears, in fact, that there may be a point at which moving to wafer sizes larger than 300mm may not make sense," Swiss added.

Clearly, time is critical if the industry is to reach its goal of converting to larger diameter wafers in production in the 1999-2000 period. The delegation generally agreed, therefore, to accelerate the cooperative effort with a follow-on technical working group to meet in early 1995 to consider a host of technical issues related to requirements for the finished wafers, including thickness. This agreement is needed so that equipment producers can begin designing the multi-million-dollar systems on which to process them. SEMI's delegates accepted the responsibility for fixing the time and location of the next meeting.

Based in Mountain View, Calif., SEMI is an international trade association serving 1,450 companies participating in the $23 billion semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials industries. SEMI maintains offices in Brussels, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Boston and Washington D.C.

CONTACT: SEMI

             Michael Ciesinski, 415-940-6952
             Mathews & Clark Communications
             Walter Mathews, 408-736-1120