Intel's China fab receives permission to use 65-nm process, says report

LONDON — Intel Corp. has sought and received permission from the U.S. government to begin manufacturing on a 65-nanometer process at its wafer fab in Dalian, according to a Shanghai Daily report.

The wafer fab is currently under construction and the timing of operations at the $2.5-billion wafer fab in Dalian has also been refined, the report said. The start of operations is now scheduled for the first half of 2010, along with possibility of the more advanced process technology, the report said citing the wafer fab's general manager Kirby Jefferson as its source.

At the time of the announcement of the wafer fab in March 2007, Intel said the plant would begin operations sometime in 2010 on a by-then trailing-edge 90-nm process technology. The Shanghai Daily report referenced Jefferson as saying Intel would choose whether to begin manufacturing on 90-nm or 65-nm in about one year.

Intel broke ground on the shell of Fab 68 in September 2007 and it is expected to cover 163,000-square-meters of factory space and host a 15,000-square-meter clean room.

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