Intel and Micron Officially Open Singapore NAND Flash Memory Fab

As everyone pretty much expected, Intel and Micron have expanded their NAND Flash memory joint venture operations with the official opening of a third production facility, located in Singapore. The fab will manufacture 25nm NAND memory using 300mm wafers.

While the official opening of the facility just took place today, IM Flash Singapore has been manufacturing 25-nm NAND Flash memory since mid-2010 and should reach its full production levels later this year.

The US$3 billion facility is expected to employ about 1,200 and will join the ranks of IMFT's Lehi, Utah and Manassas, Virginia production facilities.

“IM Flash Singapore was able to start up very successfully with its first wafer out a month ahead of the schedule and with matching quality. This enabled an early shipment release to both Intel and Micron,” said Chen Kok Sing, IM Flash Singapore managing director.

“This success is a testament of the solid commitment and seamless execution of our team members. This is also possible only with the strong support from both parent companies and everyone in the IM Flash manufacturing network,” concluded the company's rep.

At the end of last week, the joint venture has announced that it has begun sampling NAND Flash chips built using the 20nm fabrication process.

This should enable SSD makers to deliver even cheaper drives as well as more compact solid state drives as the 20nm chips are about 30% smaller than their 25nm counterparts (118mm2 vs 167mm2).

Right now, these NAND Flash memories are manufactured at the Lehi, Utah fab, but the Singapore facility will also be converted to the 20nm node later down the line.

As a response to IMFT's 20nm NAND chips, SanDisk and Toshiba announced earlier today that they have fabricated Flash memory using the 19nm process technology.