Arizona pips India for Intel Plant
By agencies   |   Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 19:30 IST
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SAN FRANCISCO: Intel Corp., the maker of computer chips, said it plans to build an advanced $3 billion semiconductor production plant in Arizona that will begin operation within two years. Intel said it planned to construct the new 300-millimeter (12-inch) silicon wafer fabrication facility, deemed "Fab 32," as the third chip plant in a three-factory site in Chandler, Arizona. The construction will begin immediately on the Arizona project. Production of leading-edge microprocessors is slated to begin in the second-half of 2007 on 45 nanometer process technology, the company said. Bob Baker, Intel's senior vice president in charge of manufacturing, said the decision to locate the plant in Arizona follows the recent passage of a tax incentive plan there. He declined to quantify what incentives Intel stands to receive. Wafers measuring 300 millimeters across offer twice the capacity of older, 200-millimeter, or 8-inch, wafer technology. Intel is moving to convert older wafer plants to 300 millimeter capacity. Forty-five nanometer technology is two generations ahead of the current 90-nanometer technology now in mainstream use among major chipmakers worldwide and 65-nanometer technology, which Intel plans to begin using later this year. The selection of Arizona follows jockeying by politicians around the world to attract the coveted high-tech factory.

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