When Intel Corp. finishes upgrading its chip-making factory in Rio Rancho next year, it will operate one of the world’s largest clean rooms.
The company started a $2.5 billion upgrade to its Fab 11X manufacturing complex early this year to produce Intel’s next generation, 32 nanometer chip technology. The new chips are smaller and faster and consume less energy than Intel’s current 45 nanometer chip technology.
When the upgrade is complete, Fab 11X will include 400,000-square-feet of clean room space, said Tim Hendry, vice president of the Intel Technology Manufacturing Group and the Fab 11X plant manager.
“It will be the largest clean room operated by Intel globally, and one of the largest in the world in general,” Hendry said. “The corridor that runs along the outside edge of the clean room is a quarter-mile long.”
Hendry and New Mexico Corporate Services Site Manager John Painter gave a group of technology investors, entrepreneurs and experts a rare tour of the facility on July 23.
The tour preceded the New Mexico Business Weekly’s first awards ceremony for state technology leaders, which was held at the Intel complex. The event, which honored 26 individuals, introduced the Business Weekly publication, “Who’s Who in Technology.”
Fab 11X originally opened in 2002 to produce 90 nanometer chips. Intel invested $2 billion more in 2007 to upgrade the facility for 45 nanometer chips on 300 millimeter wafers.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced the newest $2.5 billion modernization last February as part of a $7 billion investment in Intel’s manufacturing operations in New Mexico, Oregon and Arizona.
The facility offers fully automated processing, including lithography, etching, ion implantation, metal deposition and metal layering to produce the new 32 nanometer chips on 300 millimeter wafers. The final product includes millions of intricately designed transistors for highly complex, ultra-fast processing, Hendry said. He compared the transistors to blades of grass on a football field.
“If the wafer was a football field, every blade of grass on the field would be lined up on the disk in exact directions and measurements as part of the transistor process,” Hendry said.
The most expensive part of the upgrade is the cutting edge, high-tech equipment being installed. The lithography imaging units can cost up to $40 million each, with nearly a dozen units slated for installation at Fab 11X, Hendry said.
“That’s about a $500 million investment right there,” Hendry said. “The machines are one of the most complex tools in the factory. Each one manages between 35 to 40 lithography steps.”
The plant includes a central computer control room to monitor all equipment used in the manufacturing process. The command center encompasses two to three dozen computer control stations, each monitoring between 25 and 35 pieces of equipment, Hendry said.
“We monitor the whole tool process in real time,” he said. “If there’s a problem, the system automatically intervenes.”
The company is also upgrading a lot of the support infrastructure for plant operations, including processing facilities that pump purified air, ultra-pure water, and chemicals in and out of the plant, Painter said.
The upgrade includes a complex system of overhead pipes to manage the liquids. By placing the pipes overhead and instead of underground, Intel eliminates concerns about ground water contamination, Painter said. The pipes are also double sealed to prevent leakage.
“We’re constantly upgrading this infrastructure to manage all the new construction and changes,” Painter said. “It’s like changing tires on a car moving 25 miles per hour.”
The entire Intel complex currently consumes about 55 megawatts of electricity annually, although that will jump to about 65 megawatts soon, Painter said.
“We’re basically like a little city here,” he said. “We use more power here than the city of Santa Fe.”
There are about 600 construction employees working on the upgrade, but that will climb to a peak of about 1,500 next winter.
The new plant is scheduled for completion in fall 2010, but the company does not expect to hire new permanent workers for the facility.
More than 3,000 people are now employed at Intel in Rio Rancho.
