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I have worked for tsmc over 13 years since Year 2000 with over 20 semiconductor related US
友 華 patents. A variety of working experiences denote the career, including sales-marketing for Flash
memory and logic products, thin film process engineering, Fab setup and team building for tsmc
Fab8/14, special phase-in project task forces, process integration management, production site
management, Bumping Far-Backend integration and process, and 450mm program management.
周 Vincent Chou

Go or No go that is the Question

t seems like a military operation waiting the D day’s coming for the whole industry to
be devoted to a brand new era. We do believe there is no main technical blockage on the
Iway to create this new world. It is true that all kind of materials and methodologies are
almost ready sine both 300mm and 450mm processes share with the same technology node.
Therefore, more die-cost saving will finally become the fatal weapon to win the survival.
For sure, an oligopoly in tool demand side makes tool supply side become hesitated due to
the concerns of tool market in total quantity. In this article, some analyses might give a hint
whether the “operation” should be Go or No go.

Physical Limitations from the Earth

aydreamers always think where is the best location for human beings to extend
the wafer size perfectly with the lowest cost. The answer might be the Moon since
Dthere is only 1/6 of the Earth’s gravity to prepare colossal size silicon ingot without
concerns from the sag in the wafer center. Si wafer thickness can be shrunk to the thinnest
level, which means wafer intrinsic cost could be much lower. Besides, heavy tool parts
can be easily handled manually without sophisticated design assistant tools like lifters or
cranes. Furthermore, it is also possible to get bigger lens size to improve the throughput of
photography tools.
A vacuum environment in the Moon also benefits to grasp eUV (Extreme ultraviolet) from
the Sun without concerning power consumption for the extremely high power laser source.
The vacuum environment can also help to avoid extra oxidation as wafers transferred to the
next process step. Due to less weight in the Moon, less cooling capacity can be gained from
the lithography exposure stage for air floating or magnetic floating movement.

Return to the Earth and back to the real world, the industry encounters so many challenges
not just coming from gravity. Therefore, plenty of innovations are necessary to put 450mm era
into practice.

Discovery of New Markets and Demands

irst of all, what are the expectations from this industry upon 450mm era? Of course,
economic factor is the most fundamental consideration for more production output
Fwith more die cost saving. Tool supplier side also gives hope upon the new market
demand from not only mobile demands but also from human health caring demands. In
2012, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has announced a novel glucose fuel
cell, development work granted by NIH (National Institute of Health) and Office of Naval
Research, which is manufactured by semiconductor process, to utilize blood sugar to

NEW FAB ENGINEERING JOURNAL MARCH 2014 71