Intel To Build Its First High Volume 300 mm Production Wafer FAB In Arizona

133,000 Square Feet of Cleanroom to Result in $2 Billion Investment

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 25, 2000 -- Intel Corporation today announced it will build its first high-volume production manufacturing facility for 300 millimeter wafers, in Chandler, Ariz. The company said it will invest $2.0 billion to build and equip the wafer fabrication facility. The project is contingent upon local governmental approval, expected in the next few weeks.

"This facility will help us maintain our leadership in the extremely competitive world of semiconductors. Fab 22 will give us more manufacturing capacity in order to help us better address our customers' growing need for high performance microprocessors," said Mike Splinter, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Technology and Manufacturing Group.

The 300 mm (12-inch) wafer offers 225 percent of the silicon surface area (over twice as much surface area), and about 240 percent of the printed die (individual computer chips) per wafer, relative to standard 200 mm (8-inch) wafers used in many semiconductor manufacturing plants today. In addition, the larger wafers will reduce manufacturing costs per wafer by more than 30 percent.

Splinter continued, "Intel plans to bring this fab on line in record time to meet our customers' needs. It will initially begin production using Intel's 0.13-micron process technology with copper metallization on 200 mm wafers in 2001 and transition into the production of 300 mm wafers." A micron is approximately 1/100th the width of a typical human hair.

The construction of the new facility will create an estimated 1,000 new jobs over the next five to eight years. These jobs include technicians, engineers and support personnel. There are currently 8,150 Intel employees in Chandler.

The new fab will be located on Intel's 705 acre Ocotillo campus in Chandler, near Intel's existing Fab 12. Intel broke ground on Fab 12 in 1994 and was producing computer chips by the summer of 1996. The new fab will have approximately 360,000 square feet, 133,000 of which will be cleanroom. Additional buildings will be constructed adjacent to Fab 22 and will include a four-story, 320,000 square foot manufacturing support building, a 123,000 square foot central utility building and several expansions to existing buildings and a warehouse.

In addition to today's announcement, Intel is also continuing to evaluate other sites for additional manufacturing capacity, including its site in New Mexico.

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