THE TRANSITION to next-generation semiconductor manufacturing will be a tipping point for Europe, according to a new study by the EU commission, which is calling for a collective EU strategy to ensure 450mm silicon wafer fabrication comes to the continent.

Willy Van Puymbroek, head of the nano electronic unit in the European Commission, told a trade conference in Munich that national strategies won’t work because of the high costs involved in setting up a 450mm facility. Analyst Malcolm Penn, from Future Horizons, warned that Europe has to build on its leadership of materials and equipment to make sure it’s in the race. “If Europe doesn’t embrace 450mm, then it’s history,” he said.

The first plants are expected to go live by the end of the decade with Intel and Samsung leading the charge in the US and Far East respectively.

Intel will have two facilities in the US that are 450mm capable but it is still to make a decision on overseas operations.

The market for the 300mm wafers manufactured in Intel’s Leixlip plant will stay strong until 2025, according to Paolo Gargini, director of technology strategy for Intel. “For the next 10 years 300mm is absolutely essential, but after 2025 I would expect it to decline very sharply,” he said.

There was no discussion as to whether Leixlip could be expanded to produce 450mm wafers.

The move to 450mm is fuelled by demand for silicon which is expected to double in the next decade. Microprocessors and other integrated circuits are fabricated from silicon wafers, thin slices of semiconductor materials that are prepared in different sizes. The bigger the size, the more cost effective it becomes. Advanced 450mm manufacturing promises savings of 30 per cent but the set-up costs are high.

Some in the semiconductor industry are concerned that there is too much focus on having a 450mm. Michael Hummel, managing director of Texas Instruments, argued that smaller wafers are still a strong niche. Others argued that the real opportunity is making equipment and creating an ecosystem to support 450mm, regardless of whether there is a plant in Europe.

Delegates at the conference, organised by SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), also heard how demand for semiconductors was strong, with long-term growth forecasts averaging six per cent per annum.