SHANGHAI -- U.S.-based DuPont Photomasks Inc. (DPI) today announced plans to become the first merchant supplier of lithography reticles to install a production line for 180-nm (0.18-micron) masks in China with a major expansion of its facility here.
DuPont Photomasks said it will "anchor" the new photomask line with an Etec Systems Alta 3700 laser pattern generator, which will be supplied by Applied Materials Inc. Improvements to the existing facility and the export licensing process--required by the U.S. government--will begin in the current fiscal quarter, said DuPont Photomasks.
U.S. export controls over advanced lithography technology in China have been a center point of debated in recent years. Under older export guidelines, 0.25-micron technology had been a limit under U.S. controls, but a number of chip-making startups, joint ventures, and major semiconductor manufacturers have announced plans for 0.18-micron and below fab processes in China during the past couple of years.
DuPont Photomasks cited industry forecasts that show the semiconductor market in China growing 28% per year from $15 billion in 2001 to $40 billion in 2005. A recent estimate by China's state-owned news service shows the communist country importing $16.6 billion in integrated circuits, while exporting $2.5 billion in ICs in 2001 (see Feb. 6 story). The inclusion of China in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is expected to significantly increase production in the country, noted DuPont Photomasks.
To serve the expected growth, DPI is now planning a major expansion of its mask-making facility in the CaoHeJing Hi-Tech Park of Shanghai. The company did not release information about the size of its planned investment in the facility.
"Through our partnership with the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology and our considerable investment in the Shanghai facility over the years, we have a solid foundation of experience and expertise that will enable us to capitalize on the new opportunities presented by the semiconductor market in China," stated Peter Kirlin, chairman and CEO of DPI in Round Rock, Tex.
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