As we near SEMICON China (March 21-23), it is worthwhile to review the Asia IC industry development and outlook, and how FSI is positioned to support this significant region.

In 2004, the Chinese IC industry grew 55% year-over-year, with revenue of $6.8 billion, which consists of 33.2% from IC manufacturing, 14.9% from IC design and 51.9% from packaging and test.[1] In 2006, the Chinese IC industry will continue to mature, in particular for IC manufacturing as China shifts more attention to advanced technologies to win higher ASPs. With 90nm processing already a reality in China, predictions are for 65nm to come on strong in 2006.

Also, let's not forget about Taiwan and Korea's IC manufacturing powerhouses. In 2006, Samsung alone is forecasted to have almost $6 billion dollars in capital spending, with TSMC's capital spending estimates at $2.6 billion, followed by Hynix at $2 billion.[2] By 2009, the Asia IC market is forecasted to be over $150 billion, representing more than 54% of the total market.[3]

Such unprecedented growth and adoption of advanced technologies creates a problem: no time for extensive employee training and R&D. Consequently, IC manufacturers need to partner with companies that not only supply equipment, but also have proven technology and the resources to rapidly qualify processes and tools for manufacturing. (See the article on FSI's Class 1 laboratory found in this issue of On the Surface.)

Knowing the customer needs of the Asia Pacific Region would continue to grow and require rapid response, FSI moved from a distribution model in March 2003 to a direct support channel. Asia-based people and programs moved into place to increase responsiveness to our customer requests. We are now well positioned, supported by our aligned technology roadmaps and product offerings. FSI's business in Asia continues to grow as IC makers respond positively to our differentiated cleaning technologies.

Our flagship products – ANTARES^® CyroKinetic Cleaning System, ZETA^® Spray Cleaning System and MAGELLAN^® Immersion Cleaning System -- are in use by several industry- leading Asian customers, with 90nm and below creating numerous insertion points. As a result of several Asia-based JDP initiatives, a number of processes have been developed and optimized, for example:

• Metal stripping process for 65nm salicide formation. Contact your local sales representative for more information on this process. FSI Worldwide locations. (http://www.fsi-intl.com/company/world.php)
• EcoBlend™ processes, a new family of dilute acid cleans for cost-effective and environmentally friendly removal of post-ash residues, are used for aluminum and tungsten interconnect cleaning applications. This family of chemical processes gives IC manufacturers alternatives to high-cost specialty chemicals. To learn more on this topic, click here to request a copy of "Using Cost-Effective Dilute-Acid Chemicals to Perform Post-Etch Interconnect Clean"
• Low-particle and watermark free HF-last cleaning, uniform thin-oxide etching, and uniform polysilicon etching, and a new process for producing a very thin and uniform oxide layer for high-k dielectric precleaning were developed using the MAGELLAN^® Immersion Cleaning System. To learn more on this topic, click here to request a copy of "Single-Tank Processing Demonstrates Immersion Batch Cleaning for 65nm IC's. Advanced Immersion Batch Cleaning Processes Using Advanced and Flexible Configurations".
• Excellent yield improvements using FSI's CryoKinetic particle removal technology in production. To learn more on this topic, click here to request a copy of "Improved Yields for the Nano-Technology Era Using Cryogenic Aerosols."