14 DAY TRIAL // During the 2012 Common Platform technology forum, scheduled to take place in Santa Clara, California, in mid-March, IBM, Globalfoundries and Samsung Electronics plan to preview their next-generation chip fabrication technologies.
The presentations held by representatives of these companies, who together form the Common Platform initiative, cover topics such as the 28nm, 20nm and 14nm processes, as well as innovations beyond 14nm and 450mm wafer manufacturing.
“The Common Platform alliance is built upon an unmatched legacy of invention and deep commitment to research and development from IBM,” said Michael Cadigan, general manager of IBM's microelectronics division.
“The expertise of the companies is driving breakthrough technology innovations for semiconductor manufacturing.
“Our extensive and open ecosystem, focused on core manufacturing capabilities, gives our customers a flexible way to bring a wide range of semiconductor products to market,” concluded the company’s rep.
The move to 450mm wafers was widely debated by the semiconductor industry last year or so, since equipment suppliers are reluctant to develop the tools needed for this technology.
Their main concern is that they won’t be able to return a profit after investing in R&D for such tools, just as it happened with the switch to 300mm.
Right now, Intel and TSMC are the only two companies to have firm plans to open a 450mm wafer facilities.
The Santa Clara-based processor giant is getting ready to start 450mm research and development at its D1X lab sometime in 2013, while TSMC has plans to begin chip trial production using 450mm wafers in the 2013-2014 timeframe, with volume fabrication being scheduled to start in 2015.
According to IBM’s press release, the Common Platform Technology Forum will include keynotes from industry leaders and presentations from senior members of the Common Platform partners’ management and technical teams.