Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Friday held a groundbreaking ceremony in Taichung’s Central Taiwan Science Park for Fab 15, TSMC’s third 300mm semiconductor manufacturing facility. The phase 1 of the new production facilities will start commercial production in Q1 2012.

Fab 15 - TSMC's first "Gigafab" will have capacity of more than 100 thousand 300mm wafers per month, and will also be TSMC’s second fab equipped for 28nm technology. Construction will be divided into four phases, and total investment over the next several years is expected to exceed $9.322 billion (NT$300 billion). TSMC is scheduled to begin equipment move-in for the Phase 1 facility in June 2011, with volume production of 40nm and 28nm technology products for customers in the first quarter of 2012. More advanced process nodes will be introduced as TSMC’s technology development continues to advance.

TSMC will continue to expand capacity at Fab 12 in Hsinchu and Fab 14 in Tainan. Combined capacity of Fab 12 and Fab 14 currently exceeds 200 thousand 300mm wafers per month, and is scheduled to exceed 240 thousand 300mm wafers per month by the end of this year.

When the Fab 15 becomes fully operational, TSMC's combined 300mm manufacturing capacities will be over 340 thousand 300mm wafers per month, which will let the company to maintain its position of the world's largest contract maker of semiconductors.

The Fab 15 site will have total area of 18.4 hectares and will host two fab buildings and one office building. The building area is expected to be 430 thousand meters² and the total clean room area will be 104 thousand meters².

Fab 15 will be TSMC’s next “green fab” following Fab 12 and Fab 14, incorporating green concepts in energy conservation and pollution control in its design, including a process water conservation rate of 85%, reclamation of rainwater, recirculation and reuse of general exhaust heat, and development of solar power generation and LED lighting applications. TSMC’s goal is to reach zero emissions of greenhouse gases. 

“TSMC has worked unceasingly to improve its technology leadership, manufacturing excellence, and customer partnership to join together with our fabless and IDM customers to forge a powerful competitive force in the semiconductor industry. This groundbreaking for Fab 15 in the Central Taiwan Science Park shows our commitment to providing our customers with advanced technology and satisfying their capacity needs. And as capacity in Fab 15 grows, it will create 8000 high-quality job opportunities, demonstrating TSMC’s dedication to corporate social responsibility,” said Morris Chang, the chairman and chief executive officer of TSMC.

Tags: TSMC, Semiconductor, 300mm, 40nm, 28nm