Keeping Both Sides Winning: Wafer Fabrication Equipment Suppliers And Semiconductor Manufacturers In The Year 2000 And Beyond

Global demand for semiconductor IC solutions has kept both semiconductor manufacturers and wafer fabrication equipment suppliers in a state of rapid growth since the 1970's. As the next century approaches, new manufacturing challenges arise due to decreasing feature sizes, increasing metal layers, and the transition to 300" wafer size. Technology and productivity shifts such as these represent tremendous economic risks for both semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers. This paper will briefly discuss historical drivers of growth for both semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers, examine semiconductor manufacturers' priorities for the year 2000 and beyond, discuss equipment trends for the 2lSt century, and highlight winning strategies for the next century for wafer processing.