Costs of Chip Production

Intel Corp. today announced the opening of a $2 billion dollar expansion to its manufacturing facility in Rio Rancho, N.M., adding 200,000 square feet of clean room space.

Designated Fab 11X, the plant will produce microprocessors on 300mm wafers using 0.13-micron process technology and will transition to 90nm process technology in 2003, Intel said.

"As computing and communications devices converge, the need for increasingly complex components with more capabilities will grow," said Paul Otellini, Intel's president and COO. "This facility will help us meet that growing demand. The combination of the 300mm wafers and 90-nanometer process technology will also reduce the costs of manufacturing, increase productivity and improve the availability of the world's most advanced semiconductor products."

In addition, Intel said that from an environmental perspective, water and chemical use will be more efficient at the plant, claiming that when compared to a 200mm facility, Fab 11X will produce 48 percent less volatile organic compound emissions, use 42 percent less ultra pure water and will use about 40 percent less energy.