Aug 26 2005
Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies, a leader and innovator in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) technology for the global semiconductor industry, today announced that it will build a pad manufacturing plant and technology center at the Chunan Science Park, a satellite campus of the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan. The facility further expands the company’s presence in Asia.
The Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies Asia Pacific Manufacturing and Technical Center will encompass next-generation IC1000™ polishing pad production, a sophisticated applications lab and sales and customer support offices. Expected to be in commercial production by the first quarter of 2007, the center’s proximity to fabs throughout Asia will enable faster response times and local support for both existing customers and new 300mm fabs being built over the next decade.
Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials will invest $50 million (U.S.) in this manufacturing and technology center strategically located on six acres in the Chunan Science Park. This facility can be expanded to accommodate future growth in the Asia Pacific region, which currently accounts for more than 65 percent of the business of CMP Technologies. The facility will include a 45,000-square-foot plant dedicated to advanced manufacturing technology for next generation CMP pads. The 20,000-square-foot technical center is designed to be the most comprehensive state-of-the-art laboratory for CMP consumables in Asia. Full capability for 300 mm CMP polishing and post-CMP cleaning and associated metrology will be installed in Class 1 to 10 clean rooms of approximately 4,000 square feet. Equipment and instrumentation for pad and slurry product analysis as well as slurry blending capability will also be a part of the laboratory. In addition, there will be 30,000 square feet of office space. CMP Technologies expects the facility’s staff to grow to greater than 150 members by 2010.
“Building and staffing this plant and technical center reinforces the commitment of both CMP Technologies and our parent company, Rohm and Haas, to our customers within Asia,” said Nick Gutwein, president and CEO, Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies. “We believe our proximity to the Taiwan foundries and integrated device manufacturers, as well as the accessibility to other critical customer sites in Asia, will reduce cycle time for both customer production needs and development opportunities.”
The new facility is the first major investment in Asia outside of Japan for CMP pad manufacturing by Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials. In addition, the company currently maintains Asian sales and customer service offices for CMP support in Hsinchu and Tainan, Taiwan as well as China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Korea.
“The high-tech Chunan Science Park facility will produce pad products with our most technologically advanced capabilities,” said Dominic Yang, general manager, Asia Pacific, Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies. “As a result of the center’s superior capabilities and local technical staff, CMP Technologies is well positioned to address our customers’ manufacturing challenges at the 65nm technology node and beyond.”
http://www.rohmhaas.com/