science

List of semiconductor fabrication plants

List of semiconductor fabrication plants is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of semiconductor fabrication plants rather than just read about it. In short: Semiconductor fabrication plants are factories where integrated circuits (ICs), also known as microchips, are manufactured. They are either operated by Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) that design and manufacture ICs in-house and may also manufacture designs from design-only (fabless firms), or by pure play foundries that manufacture designs from fabless companies and do not design their own ICs.

Key takeaways

List of semiconductor fabrication plants belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of semiconductor fabrication plants to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of semiconductor fabrication plants from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Semiconductor fabrication plants are factories where integrated circuits (ICs), also known as microchips, are manufactured. They are either operated by Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) that design and manufacture ICs in-house and may also manufacture designs from design-only (fabless firms), or by pure play foundries that manufacture designs from fabless companies and do not design their own ICs. Some pure play foundries like TSMC offer IC design services, and others, like Samsung, design and manufacture ICs for customers, while also designing, manufacturing and selling their own ICs.

Glossary of terms Wafer size – largest wafer diameter that a facility is capable of processing. (Semiconductor wafers are circular.) Process technology node – size of the smallest features that the facility is capable of etching onto the wafers. Production capacity – a manufacturing facility's nameplate capacity. Generally max wafers produced per month. Utilization – the number of wafers that a manufacturing plant processes in relation to its production capacity. Technology/products – Type of product that the facility is capable of producing, as not all plants can produce all products on the market.

Open plants

Operating fabs include foundries from TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Silex Microsystems, Tower Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Foundry, VTT, SilTerra and IHP Microelectronics amongst others.

Number of open fabs currently listed here: 478 (NOTE: Some fabs located in Asia don't use the number 4, or any 2 digit number that adds up to 4, because it is considered bad luck; see tetraphobia.)

Closed plants

Number of closed fabs currently listed here: 49

See also List of MEMS foundries List of Intel manufacturing sites List of integrated circuit manufacturers Semiconductor device fabrication

References

External links

Memory and Foundry Account For More Than Half of Worldwide IC Capacity // IC Insights, Global Semiconductor Alliance, 2013-07-09 SEMI World Fab Forecast 2013 // SEMI, 2013

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of semiconductor fabrication plants

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of semiconductor fabrication plants claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of semiconductor fabrication plants before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of semiconductor fabrication plants ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of semiconductor fabrication plants

In research: List of semiconductor fabrication plants appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of semiconductor fabrication plants in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of semiconductor fabrication plants is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Intel, Lists of manufacturers, Manufacturing plants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of semiconductor fabrication plants outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of semiconductor fabrication plants in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of semiconductor fabrication plants means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of semiconductor fabrication plants out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of semiconductor fabrication plants in simple terms?

Why does List of semiconductor fabrication plants matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of semiconductor fabrication plants?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of semiconductor fabrication plants.