Earlier this year Intel obtained approval to build a new 107,000 square feet (9,940 square meters) manufacturing facility with Class 1 cleanroom at its Bowers Campus, and this week it formally began construction on the expansion, which it kicked off at a ceremony attended by its top executives and Santa Clara mayor Lisa Gilmor. The new facility will be able to write 6-inch × 6-inch photomasks both for DUV and EUV layers and a variety of nodes (from 32nm down 1.4nm-class), though the primary focus of the facility is to produce reticles for leading-edge process technologies — such as Intel's 18A, 18A-P , 14A, and more advanced — that rely on advanced DUV, EUV and eventually High-NA EUV tools and require more advanced photomasks, such as those that feature extremely dense patterns and use curvilinear optical proximity correction (OPC) with curved geometric shape.
Intel is one of a few leading chipmakers in the world that still maintains a world-class mask writing shop — which is important, as every advanced product requires hundreds of masks, and every mask revision directly affects production schedules. In addition, producing masks in-house is getting particularly important when it comes to reticles for EUV layers as EUV tools tend to damage masks over time (despite usage of protective pellicles), so having the ability to make new masks in a short amount of time is crucial. Furthermore, Intel is the only semiconductor producer to make its own tools for photomasks writing at its IMS Nanofabrication subsidiary . Historically, reticles were patterned using a single e-beam tool, which was slow. By contrast, IMS produces multi-beam mask writers (MBMWs) that project 262,144 independently programmable electron beams simultaneously, which increases throughput by orders of magnitude at a nanometer-scale placement accuracy.
(Image credit: Intel) (Image credit: Intel)
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/intel-expands-production-of-photomasks-in-california-euv-and-high-na-euv-in-the-focal-point#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/subscription
- Scientists have created a 3D-printed remote-controlled cyborg cockroach equipped with IR cameras — living insects fitted with flexible 'diving suit' can survive
- Palantir CEO Alex Karp claims AI companies are stealing customers' data while charging them for unproductive tokens — says 'livid' businesses 'are paying for to
- Supermicro denies that its offices were raided by Taiwanese authorities in Nvidia GPU smuggling case — company says that it coordinated with the police and prov
- GitHub thumbs nose at Sony's controversial end to physical media with its introduction of Repo CDs — offers limited run of 1,000 CD-ROM copies of public GitHub
- Startup activates nuclear microreactor live on stage to power an Nvidia RTX Spark desktop PC — firm working with Nvidia to build a 30MW closed loop AI factory t
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.