Japanese Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing

摘要

During the week of April 5 through 9, 1993 an ARPA technology assessment teamvisited four Japanese semiconductor companies and one Japanese university to evaluate Japanese trends in flexible manufacturing and assess their strategic direction. Of the manufacturing facilities visited, the Mitsubishi 16Mb DRAM facility in Saijo was the most advanced and provided good insight into the Japanese manufacturing directions. All of the manufacturing sites (excluding Tohoku University) are on the classic mega-fab trend which will result in the multi-billion dollar next-generation facilities. Although several of the companies visited knew of the MMST program, we saw no evidence of an analogous Japanese program. Contrary to US manufacturers, the Japanese manufacturers have little concern over the capability and cost of lithography tools and processes.