X-bit labs

AMD Transits Flash Fab to 110nm Process Technology.

Category: Memory

by Anton Shilov

[ 10/13/2004 | 12:39 PM ]

Spansion LLC, the Flash memory subsidiary of Advanced Micro Devices and Fujitsu Limited, announced that Fab 25, the company’s flagship manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas, is now fully dedicated to producing 110nm floating gate flash memory products for wireless and other markets.

A key success factor for this rapid technology transition is AMD’s Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM) technology, a patented suite of more than 300 leading-edge fab automation, optimization and real-time data analysis technologies used to reduce time-to-yield on new technologies and decrease manufacturing costs. APM was first developed and implemented in Fab 25 and expanded later in AMD’s world-class factories in Dresden, Germany, Fab 30 and the upcoming 300mm Fab 36.

“We consistently set and break industry records at Fab 25 thanks to APM. Our transition to 110-nanometer was completed in just a few months, with minimal impact on our production output and yields far better than we had anticipated,” said Jim Doran, executive vice president of worldwide technology development and manufacturing for Spansion.

Using APM helps AMD and Spansion to rapidly introduce product enhancements in their manufacturing plants while the production line is running. Increased accuracy and control helps to ensure both companies can consistently achieve higher yields faster on next-generation technologies, and more closely aligns fab output with customers’ shifting supply chain requirements.

This accomplishment represents the fastest node transition in Spansion’s history from development to world-class yields. The company notes that it is an especially significant milestone achieved two years after Fab 25’s manufacturing process was fully converted from logic to memory.