The move--which could enable the company to widen its lead over its rival in the microprocessor business, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.--will expand Intel's 0.13-micron chip production to a staggering total of six wafer fabs by 2003 or sooner.

At present, Intel is making and shipping 0.13-micron chips in two fabs--with four more plants waiting in the wings, according to Intel.

Today, in fact, Intel announced the grand opening of a new 8-inch, 0.13-micron wafer fab in Chandler, Arizona. Dubbed Fab 22, this new and massive $2 billion fab will become Intel's largest 0.13-micron plant to date.

Meanwhile, Intel today also disclosed that it has begun ramping up 0.13-micron technology in an 8-inch plant in Hudson, Massachusetts and a 300-mm facility in Hillsboro, Ore. Next year, it will make 0.13-micron chips in another 300-mm fab located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, it was noted.

In total, Intel plans to have six fabs ramping up its new 0.13-micron technology "over the next six or seven quarters," said Brian Harrison, vice president of Intel's Manufacturing and Technology Group, in a press briefing at the company's headquarters here.

"If you look at it from a unit point of view, the 0.13-micron ramp is the fastest in our history," Harrison said in an interview after the presentation.

The six fabs will make several products, including microprocessors, based on its 0.13-micron technology. This includes its recently-announced, 0.13-micron version of its Pentium III line, which is geared for notebook PCs and other systems.

But more importantly, Intel is gearing up for its code-named "Northwood" products, which are 0.13-micron versions of its Pentium 4 processor line. Geared for notebooks, desktops, and servers, the yet-to-be-announced "Northwood" chips are sampling right now. Intel will officially announce these chips in early next year.

At present, the Pentium 4 is based on 0.18-micron technology. But Intel's 0.13-micron process technology will enable it to reduce the costs for the Pentium 4 line. The 0.13-micron process is said to have about two times the units per wafer, as compared to 0.18-micron technology, according to Intel.

In comparison, Intel's main rival--AMD--is still developing and shipping processors based on 0.18-micron technology. But executives from the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said it will announce its 0.13-micron process by year's end.

Intel, on the other hand, is ramping up its 0.13-micron technology at a dizzying pace. Earlier this year, Intel actually began making and shipping its initial 0.13-micron products in its Fab 20 plant in Hillsboro. The 8-inch fab is making 0.13-micron versions of its Pentium III processor line, and reportedly, the code-named "Northwood" products.

More recently, the company has been producing processors, flash-memories, and other products in its D2 development fab in Santa Clara. The D2 fab is an 8-inch, 0.18-to-0.13-micron plant.

In September, it began producing 0.13-micron chips in the new and massive 8-inch plant in Chandler. The Fab 22 plant in Chandler "will be our largest factory for 0.13-micron technology," Harrison said during the presentation.

Intel's Fab 22 plant is a $2 billion fab that will make processors, including Pentium III and Pentium 4 devices, Harrison said. The fab consists of 133,000-square-feet of clean room space. In total, the fab is a 360,000-square-foot plant.

The fab can also be converted into a 300-mm plant as well. "We don't have plans to convert that facility right now," Harrison said.

At present, Intel is also in the 0.13-micron pilot production stage for Fab 17. Located in Hudson, this fab will move into production by year's end. In 1998, Intel acquired this fab from Digital Equipment Corp.

Not to be outdone, Intel is also gearing up 0.13-micron production in two 300-mm fabs. Right now, the company is ramping up production in its so-called D1C development fab in Hillsboro. The D1C fab initially began producing wafers in March, but production will not begin in this plant until the beginning of 2002.

And in mid-to-late-2002, the company will begin 0.13-micron production in another 300-mm fab, which is located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, according to Intel.