Magical Mystery Fab Tour
The plot thickens in the mystery fab venture between Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and IBM Corp.'s Microelectronics Division.
As reported in May, rumors were--and still are--running rampant that IBM is in the process of building a new, advanced fab for AMD. Reports have surfaced that IBM is gutting a building in New York and turning it into a 300-mm, sub-100-nm fab. Once the fab is equipped, IBM will reportedly turn the plant over to AMD, sources said. In turn, AMD will make next-generation processors in the fab, they added (see May 9 story ).
Industry sources believe that AMD's process engineering groups are currently moving from Sunnyvale, Calif. to their "new home" at IBM in East Fishkill, N.Y. Timing of the AMD fab on the IBM campus remains unclear, but the two companies are moving forward on the collaboration for the 65-nm process technology node.
In January, AMD and IBM entered into an agreement to jointly develop chip-making technologies for use in future high-performance products.
The new processes, developed by AMD and IBM, will be aimed at improving microprocessor performance and reducing power consumption, and will be based on advanced structures and materials such as high-speed silicon-on-insulator (SOI) transistors, copper interconnects and improved "low-k dielectric" insulation. The agreement includes collaboration on 65- and 45-nm and 300-mm wafers.
