Applied Materials Opens Advanced Wafer Reclaim Center in Taiwan to
Extend Wafer Lifecycle and Conserve Silicon
TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Materials, Inc., the global leader in Nanomanufacturing
Technology™ solutions
for the electronics industry, today opened its new 300mm Wafer Reclaim
Center in Taiwan. Located in Tainan’s
Science-Based Industrial Park, this 3,120m2
facility will include three cleanrooms and utilize Applied’s
advanced process systems to provide customers with state-of-the-art
wafer reclaim technology.
“This new capability expands Applied Materials’
opportunity to use our considerable process technology expertise to
provide customers with new ways to drive down costs,”
stated Mark Stark, vice president and general manager of Applied’s
Fab Operation Services division. “Typically,
wafers are the single largest consumable cost contributor for a fab.
With an industry-wide shortage of silicon, the use of wafer reclaim
services is expected to grow to help offset the limited availability of
silicon and decrease non-product wafer costs. Our unique reclaim methods
have demonstrated significant cost-of-ownership benefits for our
customers, including higher wafer quality and increased process yields.”
Using its advanced manufacturing systems and software, Applied can
extend the lifecycle of test wafers by over 45% to 11 uses per wafer –
reducing customers’ costs for high quality,
particle-free wafers – while conserving the
world’s limited supply of silicon. The Center
also features a unique, patented process for the non-destructive
recovery of wafers containing carbon-based low k films that removes
virtually no silicon from the wafer.
A study by SEMI in March 2007 indicates that the use of test wafers has
increased in the semiconductor industry to represent approximately 15%
of the total silicon wafer usage. This is due to an increased use of
test wafers in 300mm wafer fabrication.
“We thank the Tainan Science Park
Administration, local government and our customers for their support in
helping us to establish this new facility to serve the semiconductor
industry,” said Stark.
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is the global leader in
Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solutions with
a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products
for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panels, solar
photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. At
Applied Materials, we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve the
way people live. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.
