NEC Electronics Corp., on Thursday, marked the official launch of its 300mm wafer fabrication line at parent company NEC Yamagata's facilities in Tsuruoka, Japan, opening its doors with double the expected capacity than the company originally announced.
The 300mm fab commenced manufacturing at the end of 2004 and currently produces 4,000 wafers per month. That is expected to increase to 6,000 in September when NEC adds more equipment, and ultimately, as the line is further expanded, capacity is expected to reach 20,000 wafers per month. NEC's original prediction for the plant in April 2004 was 10,000 wafers per month. The company said the boost in production capacity was made possible by a more efficient floor layout and improved efficiency of manufacturing equipment.
"Our 300-millimeter line employs state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and is the flagship facility of NEC Electronics," Susumu Sato, president of NEC Yamagata, said in a statement. "By improving production capacity and taking production efficiency to the next level, we will further improve our ability to deliver devices to customers and cement NEC Yamagata's position as a world-class 300-millimeter facility."
NEC Electronics and NEC Yamagata invested approximately $742 million (80 billion yen) the fiscal year ended March 31 and have hired about 100 new employees to date.
The 300mm line at NEC Yamagata targets the 130nm and 90nm nodes.
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