ProMOS in Taiwan brings up Elpida 63nm process, successfully builds 1-Gbit DDR3 SDRAMs

Taiwan DRAM maker ProMOS has just announced successful fabrication of 1-Gbit DDR3 SDRAMs using Elpida’s 63nm (a 65nm shrink) fabrication process, transferred to ProMOS under a strategic partnership between the two companies that was initiated at the end of 2009. The 63nm process is up and running at ProMOS’ Taichung fab and the first trial lot of devices meets parametrics, signifying successful transfer of the 63nm process technology from Elpida. According to the ProMOS release, “Engineers from the two companies have been working closely in the past couple months to adjust and experiment process recipes to account for the vast differences in manufacturing equipment between the two companies.” Significantly, ProMOS release claims that “The chip size of this 1Gb DDR3, designed in 63nm, is as small as the chip sizes of other companies’ products, designed in 5Xnm technologies.” Because chip size directly affects device cost, this is indeed a significant achievement and advance for ProMOS and a real advantage in the hotly competitive landscape of SDRAM manufacture.

Anyone with experience in advanced IC lithography and manufacturing processes knows that the task of process transfer gets exponentially harder when transferring the process from one set of manufacturing equipment to a different set. That’s why leading semi vendor Intel employs a “Copy Exact” process-development policy that replicates all the elements of a fab, down to the “color of the walls” as a Microsoft manager has quipped in the past.