Intel Corp. on Friday announced plans to invest more than $5 billion to build a new chip manufacturing facility at its site in Chandler, Arizona. Although the company is looking forward 450mm chip fabs, the new factory will process 300mm wafers at least initially.

The new Arizona factory, designated Fab 42, will be the most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world, according to Intel. Construction of the new fab is expected to begin in the middle of this year and is expected to be completed in 2013. The new factory will make chips using 14nm manufacturing process on 300mm wafers.

“The investment positions our manufacturing network for future growth. This fab will begin operations on a process that will allow us to create transistors with a minimum feature size of 14nm. For Intel, manufacturing serves as the underpinning for our business and allows us to provide customers and consumers with leading-edge products in high volume. The unmatched scope and scale of our investments in manufacturing help Intel maintain industry leadership and drives innovation, ,” said Brian Krzanich, senior vice president and general manager of manufacturing and supply chain at Intel.

The project will create thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs at Intel’s Arizona site.

While more than three-fourths of Intel’s sales come from outside of the United States, Intel manufactures three-fourths of its microprocessors in the United States. The addition of this new fab will increase the company’s American manufacturing capability significantly.

“The products based on these leading-edge chips will give consumers unprecedented levels of performance and power efficiency across a range of computing devices from high-end servers to ultra-sleek portable devices,” added Mr. Krzanich.

Tags: Intel, 300mm, 14nm, Semiconductor