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How SiC Brought 200mm Equipment Back

benb

Well-known member
After a 15 year hiatus, the 200mm fab, producing SiC ICs, is back for an encore performance from 2022 on, enabling the Tesla Model 3 to achieve 10% longer battery life, and PC power supplies to be 98% efficient.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/science/electronics-silicon-gallium.html

Applied Materials has restarted 200mm equipment production. They offer 200mm equipment for SiC for CMP, CVD, PVD, etch and diffusion.
https://www.appliedmaterials.com/us...se-chip-performance-and-power-efficiency.html


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Wolfspeed’s new 200mm SiC fab in Marcy, NY offers a process flow named G28V5 for foundry customers, with a fascinating diagram showing SiC substrate, GaN film, and Au conductor. V5 is 0.15um (150nm).

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ASML introduced a 200mm lithography tool (dry KrF, 248nm) in 2016.
https://www.asml.com/en/products/duv-lithography-systems
https://www.asml.com/en/products/duv-lithography-systems/twinscan-xt860n

Canon offers a KrF tool with 200mm capability.
https://global.canon/en/product/indtech/semicon/fpa3030ex6.html

While Wolfspeed/SiC is leading the 200mm re-emergence, it is more than just a SiC story. The applications for the new 200mm fabs or fab expansions are varied. Analog foundry, general-purpose foundry, SiC, GaN, and MEMS are represented. China is a big investor in 200mm fabs.

Today, several companies are building new 200mm fabs or adding production lines to existing 200mm facilities. “Looking at new 200mm volume fabs, we have at the moment five new 200mm fabs starting construction in 2021 and 2022,” said Christian Dieseldorff, an analyst at SEMI. “These are planned by Rogue Valley Microdevices, OnMicro Electronics, Infineon, and Aosong.”

In existing 200mm fabs, meanwhile, some 17 200mm lines are expected to move into production from 2021 to 2024. “In 2021, those include Cree, CR Microelectronics, SMIC, Rohm, Innoscience, and SiEn,” Dieseldorff said.

https://semiengineering.com/200mm-shortages-may-persist-for-years/

  • Rogue Valley Microdevices in Oregon is a new MEMS foundry.
  • OnMicro Electronics is a SiC fab in China.
  • Infineon is a German semiconductor company building a new SiC fab in Kulim, Malaysia, announced in 2022.
  • Cree is expanding 200mm SiC wafer production in North Carolina.
  • CR Micro is expanding their 200mm analog foundry in China.
  • SMIC operates 200mm fabs in Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Shanghai (no indication which one, or all of them, is expanding).
  • Rohm is ramping a 200mm SiC fab in 2022.
  • Innoscience is a China 200mm GaN-on-Si IDM manufacturer who announced 200mm fab expansion complete in Suzhou on 06/05/2021.

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SiC has forced a major change in the industry, a return to 200mm, heralding a new age, the SiC age. This spills over to the old silicon 200mm fabs, which are now no longer zombies, waiting to be overtaken by 300mm fabs; a new path to expand and meet the unsolved automotive shortage now exists.
 
This is so goofy, but I love it. Although it slightly pains me that some of the trailing edge folks won't just giga die shrink their products to 28nm. Just hope this doesn't hurt leading edge 300mm tool delivers 😅 (not that I expect that this will be a problem).
 
This spills over to the old silicon 200mm fabs, which are now no longer zombies, waiting to be overtaken by 300mm fabs; a new path to expand and meet the unsolved automotive shortage now exists.

SiC equipment is very different from ones used for logic on silicon. It's closer to what's used for manufacturing of discretes, and LEDs. Wafer handling equipment though may be similar.

LEDs are by far the biggest 200mm wafer size user, but there is very little crossover in between LED, and logic manufacturing I think.
 
It's a new field. It doesn't seem to push the litho beyond 150nm (KrF), but the CMP is sophisticated, cutting edge. I know very little, but it's fascinating and should be on people's radar. Don't dismiss or pigeon hole it as low end or niche; at least, it's a very big niche in the EV future.

It's not crystal manufacturing either; that's separate. The process flow is relatively simple today, but...Gold metallization, TSVs, it's already damn high end and sophisticated.
 
TSMC 40g. Great process. Up to M8 thin, then M9/M10 thick, but they said move on 28nm at reasonable price, so we move on. Don't fight the Fed... or TSMC.

GF45: M7 thick. Crappy metal stack for digital stuff. Fuhgedaboudid

ON: Guided by Fairchild. Riddle, are they above 2 metals yet?

Sky will one day achieve a crappy 45nm metal stack.j

Conclusion: I almost agree with Mr. Ng, except I would go 2 steps further. Open the schematic, then push the button.
 
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No really, what's happening with their 40nm service?
They shut down their Kokomo plant over years ago. I am not sure they ever got to 40nm actually. Maybe that is why GM closed it. BTW UMC is actually Chrysler. It is very confusing.
 
They shut down their Kokomo plant over years ago. I am not sure they ever got to 40nm actually. Maybe that is why GM closed it. BTW UMC is actually Chrysler. It is very confusing.
Odd. I thought they relatively recently started doing finfets?
 
No, that was fake news started by Fred.

Did you know there is also a foundry in Taiwan called UMC. I found them when goggling Micron. Weird...
 
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