Next generation production on 300 mm from pilot to volume

Summary form only given. Market conditions, especially in the commodity segment of DRAM, cost reduction is the driving force to achieve productivity improvement. The transition to next generation wafer size (300 mm) at that point in time was seen at Infineon crucial to gain additional productivity. Infineon is the leader in implementing 300 mm as next generation manufacturing technology. In 1998 the Joint Venture Semiconductor 300 (Infineon/Motorola) installed the worlds first 300 mm Pilotline at the existing Infineon Dresden facilities. The goal of this JV was to evaluate the 300 mm readiness for tool and process, automation and manufacturing. After qualification of the world's first product on 300 mm in 1999, a 64M DRAM and a fast yield ramp more than 10 million DRAMs have been shipped from this pilotline to the customer. In parallel, Infineon established a - think tank - team, Fab of the Future, to prepare the construction of a 300 mm volume fab as well as the equipment selection, with special attention to automation, process capability and productivity. The groundbreaking for the new fab at Dresden/Germany was in April 2000, just 12 month of construction followed, Ready for Equipment (RFE) was achieved April 2001 and the tools moved in. After a smooth Start Up in 2001 and continuous investment to increase capacity, Infineon Technologies SC300 is in a steep ramp of the world's first 300 mm memory fab with 256M DRAM in 140 nm Trench Capacitor technology, planning to reach final capacity in summer 2003. Parallel production will be moved to the next generation of DRAM in 110 nm technology. Tools and processes for 300 mm at Infineon SC300 have proven their production worthiness by achieving high productivity, low defectivity, high process stability and tool reliability. Subsequent the predicted productivity step of going to the next wafer size could be realized.