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IBM,
Infineon and UMC Form Alliance to Develop Leading Chip Technologies
TAIPEI,
Taiwan, January 27, 2000 --IBM, Infineon Technologies, and
UMC today announced plans to jointly develop leading technologies
for use in the production of semiconductors. Under
the agreement, the three companies will work together to develop
common process technologies for building logic chips with
feature sizes from 0.13 to 0.10 micron (1 micron equals 1/100
the width of a human hair). These new processes will incorporate
copper wiring and allow logic and mixed-signal circuitry and
embedded DRAM memory to be combined on a single chip.
The development work will be
conducted by a team of scientists and engineers staffed from
all three companies
at the IBM Semiconductor Research and Development
Center (SRDC) in Fishkill, New York. Each company will then
have the ability to implement the processes in its own manufacturing
facilities. The current development agreement extends through
2003. The companies expect to make details on the first 0.13-micron
technology available to customers to initiate their designs
in Q2 2000.
"Our efforts in developing leadership chip
technologies are widely recognized; this agreement is intended
to make them more widely available," said Dr. John Kelly,
general manager of the IBM Microelectronics Division.
"As IBM, Infineon and UMC jointly develop and introduce new
manufacturing processes, we believe more customers will apply
the technology in their products, secure in the knowledge
that they have multiple sources of supply. This is another
example of IBM's commitment to bringing advanced technologies
into the mainstream."
"In 1998, Infineon and IBM extended their
longstanding and successful DRAM alliance into developing
logic and eDRAM technologies starting with the 0.18 micron
generation. Teaming up with UMC, one of the world's leading
foundry providers, will add even more momentum to this alliance
creating what we expect to be a truly exciting logic and embedded
memory technology platform for system integration on chip.
This is a true cooperation consisting of one joint team,"
said Dr. Andreas von Zitzewitz, COO of Infineon Technologies.
"We believe that by combining our companies' complementary
distinct top core competencies, we will be able to master
the challenges of the deepest sub-micron technologies even
faster with reduced risk at a reasonable cost per partner.
Our goal is to consistently provide leading-edge logic and
eDRAM technology platforms to our customers."
"We are happy to join IBM and Infineon,
two companies that clearly share our commitment to state-of-the
art technology. We believe that this agreement represents
a path to the future for IC designers around the world,"
said Robert Tsao, Chairman of UMC.
Jim Kupec, President of UMC (USA), said,
"With the combined expertise of IBM, Infineon and UMC, we
believe that the processes that we jointly develop will represent
a new global standard for quality in logic semiconductor manufacturing.
Hence, UMC will market these processes to our foundry customers
under the brand name Worldlogic."
About IBM
IBM Microelectronics is a key
contributor to IBM's role as the world's premier information
technology supplier. IBM Microelectronics develops, manufactures
and markets state-of-the-art semiconductor technologies, products,
packaging and services. Its superior integrated solutions
can be found in many of the world's best-known electronic
brands. More information about IBM Microelectronics can be
found at http://www.chips.ibm.com
.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich,
Germany, offers semiconductor solutions for applications in
the wireless and wired communications markets, for the automotive
and industrial sectors, and for security systems and chip
cards as well as memory products. With a global presence,
Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, and in the
Asia-Pacific region from Singapore. In the fiscal year 1999
(ending September), the company achieved sales of EUR 4.24
billion (US $ 4.51 billion) with 25,800 employees worldwide.
Further information at http://www.infineon.com
Editorial
Contacts:
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IBM
Chris Andrews
(914) 892-5389
candrews@us.ibm.com
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Infineon Technologies AG
Anke Pickhardt,
Katja Schlendorf
+49 89 234-22404 (-26555)
anke.pickhardt@infineon.com
katja.schlendorf@infineon.com
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UMC
Alex Hinnawi
(886) 2-2700-6999 ext.
6958
Alex_Hinnawi@umc.com
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