GLOBALFOUNDRIES announced that its Fab 1 in Dresden,
Germany has shipped a quarter of a million semiconductor
wafers based on 32nm High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) technology.
According to the company, on a unit basis, cumulative 32nm
shipments for the first five quarters of wafer production
are more than double that achieved during the same period
of the 45nm technology ramp, demonstrating that the
overall 32nm ramp has significantly outpaced the 45nm
ramp, despite the integration of a number of new and
complex elements in both design and process technologies.
"AMD and GLOBALFOUNDRIES worked in close partnership
during 2011, and today's announcement is a testament to
the progress we have made together," said AMD president
and CEO Rory Read. "In just one quarter, we were able to
see more than a doubling of yields on 32nm, allowing us
to exit 2011 having exceeded our 32nm product shipment
requirements. Based on this successful ramp of 32nm HKMG,
we are committed to moving ahead on 28nm with
GLOBALFOUNDRIES."
"Early in 2011 we met significant challenges in early
yield learning on 32nm HKMG," said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO
Ajit Manocha. "However, we made several organizational
and operational changes in the second half of the year
that led to a dramatic increase in production velocity
and major breakthroughs in yield learning. And since our
28nm technology uses the same HKMG implementation as
32nm, AMD and other customers will benefit greatly from
our high-volume ramp of leading-edge APUs at 32nm."
At Fab 1 in Dresden, GLOBALFOUNDRIES recently completed
construction of an additional wafer manufacturing
facility designed to add capacity at 45nm and below,
which has the potential to increase the overall output of
the Fab 1 campus to 80,000 wafers per month once fully
ramped. The expansion project is adding more than 110,000
square feet of cleanroom space to the site, making Fab 1
the largest wafer fab in Europe for leading-edge
technology. More than 50 percent of Fab 1's production is
now on HKMG technology. In addition to the 32nm
technology, GLOBALFOUNDRIES says that its 28nm HKMG
offerings are qualified and ready for design-in today.