Intel Starts Work on 300 mm Chip Fab

Staff -- Semiconductor International, 4/1/1998

Intel Corp. broke ground for its first 300 mm advanced logic wafer fab in Hillsboro, Ore. The new plant will feature a 120,000 ft² Class 1 cleanroom and will cost more than $1.5 billion. The fab will also double as headquarters for the company's Portland, Ore., Technology Development operation, which develops manufacturing recipes for future Intel chips. The fab will develop technologies for 0.13 µm (130 nm) and beyond devices, and it will eventually operate as a volume manufacturing fab. Previously, Intel announced plans to build multiple manufacturing and development facilities at the Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro in 1994. The new facility is this development's second phase and is scheduled to be completed in the year 2000. Intel will spend ~$2.8 billion on various R&D activities during the current year. This year, capital spending is expected to be ~$5.3 billion, up from $4.5 billion in 1997.