<s>
In	O
the	O
microelectronics	O
industry	O
,	O
a	O
semiconductor	B-Algorithm
fabrication	I-Algorithm
plant	I-Algorithm
(	O
commonly	O
called	O
a	O
fab	B-Algorithm
;	O
sometimes	O
foundry	B-Algorithm
)	O
is	O
a	O
factory	O
for	O
semiconductor	B-Architecture
device	I-Architecture
fabrication	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fabs	B-Algorithm
require	O
many	O
expensive	O
devices	O
to	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Estimates	O
put	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
building	O
a	O
new	O
fab	B-Algorithm
over	O
one	O
billion	O
U.S.	O
dollars	O
with	O
values	O
as	O
high	O
as	O
$3	O
–	O
4	O
billion	O
not	O
being	O
uncommon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TSMC	O
invested	O
$9.3	O
billion	O
in	O
its	O
Fab15	O
300mm	O
wafer	B-Architecture
manufacturing	O
facility	O
in	O
Taiwan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
company	O
estimations	O
suggest	O
that	O
their	O
future	O
fab	B-Algorithm
might	O
cost	O
$20	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
foundry	B-Algorithm
model	O
emerged	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
:	O
Foundries	B-Algorithm
that	O
produced	O
their	O
own	O
designs	O
were	O
known	O
as	O
integrated	B-Algorithm
device	I-Algorithm
manufacturers	I-Algorithm
(	O
IDMs	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
that	O
farmed	O
out	O
manufacturing	O
of	O
their	O
designs	O
to	O
foundries	B-Algorithm
were	O
termed	O
fabless	B-Algorithm
semiconductor	I-Algorithm
companies	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
foundries	B-Algorithm
,	O
which	O
did	O
not	O
create	O
their	O
own	O
designs	O
,	O
were	O
called	O
pure-play	O
semiconductor	B-Algorithm
foundries	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
central	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
fab	B-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
clean	O
room	O
,	O
an	O
area	O
where	O
the	O
environment	O
is	O
controlled	O
to	O
eliminate	O
all	O
dust	O
,	O
since	O
even	O
a	O
single	O
speck	O
can	O
ruin	O
a	O
microcircuit	O
,	O
which	O
has	O
nanoscale	O
features	O
much	O
smaller	O
than	O
dust	O
particles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Often	O
,	O
a	O
fab	B-Algorithm
will	O
be	O
constructed	O
in	O
the	O
following	O
manner	O
:	O
(	O
from	O
top	O
to	O
bottom	O
)	O
:	O
the	O
roof	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
contain	O
air	O
handling	O
equipment	O
that	O
draws	O
,	O
purifies	O
and	O
cools	O
outside	O
air	O
,	O
an	O
air	O
plenum	O
for	O
distributing	O
the	O
air	O
to	O
several	O
floor-mounted	O
fan	O
filter	O
units	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
also	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
cleanroom	O
's	O
ceiling	O
,	O
the	O
cleanroom	O
itself	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
or	O
may	O
not	O
have	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
story	O
,	O
a	O
return	O
air	O
plenum	O
,	O
the	O
clean	O
subfab	O
that	O
may	O
contain	O
support	O
equipment	O
for	O
the	O
machines	O
in	O
the	O
cleanroom	O
such	O
as	O
chemical	O
delivery	O
,	O
purification	O
,	O
recycling	O
and	O
destruction	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
ground	O
floor	O
,	O
that	O
may	O
contain	O
electrical	O
equipment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fabs	B-Algorithm
also	O
often	O
have	O
some	O
office	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
clean	O
room	O
is	O
where	O
all	O
fabrication	B-Architecture
takes	O
place	O
and	O
contains	O
the	O
machinery	O
for	O
integrated	O
circuit	O
production	O
such	O
as	O
steppers	B-Algorithm
and/or	O
scanners	O
for	O
photolithography	B-Algorithm
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
etching	B-Algorithm
,	O
cleaning	O
,	O
doping	B-Algorithm
and	O
dicing	B-Algorithm
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prices	O
for	O
most	O
common	O
pieces	O
of	O
equipment	O
for	O
the	O
processing	O
of	O
300mm	O
wafers	B-Architecture
range	O
from	O
$	O
700,000	O
to	O
upwards	O
of	O
$	O
4,000,000	O
each	O
with	O
a	O
few	O
pieces	O
of	O
equipment	O
reaching	O
as	O
high	O
as	O
$	O
340,000,000	O
each	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
typical	O
fab	B-Algorithm
will	O
have	O
several	O
hundred	O
equipment	O
items	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
an	O
advance	O
in	O
chip-making	O
technology	O
requires	O
a	O
completely	O
new	O
fab	B-Algorithm
to	O
be	O
built	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
past	O
,	O
the	O
equipment	O
to	O
outfit	O
a	O
fab	B-Algorithm
was	O
not	O
very	O
expensive	O
and	O
there	O
were	O
a	O
huge	O
number	O
of	O
smaller	O
fabs	B-Algorithm
producing	O
chips	O
in	O
small	O
quantities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
up-to-date	O
equipment	O
has	O
since	O
grown	O
to	O
the	O
point	O
where	O
a	O
new	O
fab	B-Algorithm
can	O
cost	O
several	O
billion	O
dollars	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
side	O
effect	O
of	O
the	O
cost	O
has	O
been	O
the	O
challenge	O
to	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
older	O
fabs	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
many	O
companies	O
these	O
older	O
fabs	B-Algorithm
are	O
useful	O
for	O
producing	O
designs	O
for	O
unique	O
markets	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
embedded	B-Architecture
processors	I-Architecture
,	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
,	O
and	O
microcontrollers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
for	O
companies	O
with	O
more	O
limited	O
product	O
lines	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
often	O
best	O
to	O
either	O
rent	O
out	O
the	O
fab	B-Algorithm
,	O
or	O
close	O
it	O
entirely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
tendency	O
of	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
upgrading	O
an	O
existing	O
fab	B-Algorithm
to	O
produce	O
devices	O
requiring	O
newer	O
technology	O
to	O
exceed	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
a	O
completely	O
new	O
fab	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
has	O
been	O
a	O
trend	O
to	O
produce	O
ever	O
larger	O
wafers	B-Architecture
,	O
so	O
each	O
process	O
step	O
is	O
being	O
performed	O
on	O
more	O
and	O
more	O
chips	O
at	O
once	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
is	O
to	O
spread	O
production	O
costs	O
(	O
chemicals	O
,	O
fab	B-Algorithm
time	O
)	O
over	O
a	O
larger	O
number	O
of	O
saleable	O
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
impossible	O
(	O
or	O
at	O
least	O
impracticable	O
)	O
to	O
retrofit	O
machinery	O
to	O
handle	O
larger	O
wafers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
not	O
to	O
say	O
that	O
foundries	B-Algorithm
using	O
smaller	O
wafers	B-Architecture
are	O
necessarily	O
obsolete	O
;	O
older	O
foundries	B-Algorithm
can	O
be	O
cheaper	O
to	O
operate	O
,	O
have	O
higher	O
yields	O
for	O
simple	O
chips	O
and	O
still	O
be	O
productive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
industry	O
was	O
aiming	O
to	O
move	O
from	O
the	O
state-of-the-art	O
wafer	B-Architecture
size	O
300mm	O
(	O
12in	O
)	O
to	O
450mm	O
by	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
lights-out	O
fab	B-Algorithm
"	O
concept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
important	O
goal	O
of	O
this	O
initiative	O
is	O
to	O
enable	O
fabs	B-Algorithm
to	O
produce	O
greater	O
quantities	O
of	O
smaller	O
chips	O
as	O
a	O
response	O
to	O
shorter	O
lifecycles	O
seen	O
in	O
consumer	O
electronics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
logic	O
is	O
that	O
such	O
a	O
fab	B-Algorithm
can	O
produce	O
smaller	O
lots	O
more	O
easily	O
and	O
can	O
efficiently	O
switch	O
its	O
production	O
to	O
supply	O
chips	O
for	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
new	O
electronic	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
