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Xilinx leads the industry in 300 mm wafers and 90 nm process technologies.
by Steve Sharp
Senior Manager, Programmable Logic Solutions Marketing
Xilinx, Inc.
steve.sharp@xilinx.com
Xilinx is aggressively driving down costs
for its customers, especially in the area of
90 nm process technology and 300 mm
wafer manufacturing.
The industry leader in PLD (programmable
logic device) process technology
since the introduction of its Virtex-E
and Virtex-EM FPGA families in 1999,
Xilinx was already well ahead of the
Semiconductor Industry Association’s
process roadmap. And we’ve maintained
that lead by more than a year ever since.
Our successful strategy includes partnerships
with two world-class fabrication
partners: IBM in the United States and
UMC in Taiwan. Both companies are
experts in process technology and manufacturing.
They have allowed Xilinx to be
the first PLD manufacturer to deliver products
based on 300 mm wafers and, more
recently, 90 nm process technology.
Advantages Beyond Wafer-Thin
Larger 300 mm wafers are imperative for
lowering costs. With almost twice the usable
wafer area and approximately 2.5 times the
number of die per wafer, cost savings of 30%
to 40% over 200 mm wafers are typical.
According to Glen Yeung of the investment
firm Salomon Smith Barney, “[These]
300 mm facilities are the wave of the future.
For both chip and equipment companies,
the move is an economic imperative.”
The semiconductor industry has been
successful in the use of “copy exact,” which
makes it effective to transition a product
68 Xcell Journal Fall 2003