Will there be a 450mm fab in Europe?
Leading semiconductor manufacturers will move to using 450mm wafers within the next five years or so. TSMC, for example, believes it will be the only economical way to make leading edge devices in the future.
TSMC, along with Intel and Samsung, will apply 450mm wafers at the 'bleeding edge' - 20nm and smaller.
Europe has strong interest in 450mm from the tools perspective: imec is a leading researcher, while ASML is leading the lithography efforts. Will this interest stretch to a 450mm fab in Europe? The EC is currently reviewing a report into the feasibility of such a move.
One school of thought claims manufacturing analogue and power products, for example, on 450mm wafers at what would be considered legacy dimensions, might make economic sense - and this does play to European strengths.
But will the report move beyond the review stage? While Europe does good collaborative microelectronics research, it has yet to embrace collaborative manufacturing with any real enthusiasm.
