Globalfoundries spends billions on chip manufacturing expansion

Globalfoundries is expanding its advanced chip production and research centres

Globalfoundries is scaling up its chip manufacturing facilities to meet demand for advanced processors.

The company is building a manufacturing facility at its Fab 1 Dresden plant to increase capacity to 80,000 units of 45nm, 40nm or 28nm chips.

The expansion will add 110,000 square feet of clean room space, and will take two years to be fully completed. However, it is dependant on a funding deal from the German government and the European Union.

Globalfoundries will also upgrade Fab 8, which is under construction at Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York, almost tripling the current clean room space.

The plant will be built to produce 28nm, 22nm and 20nm chips at a volume of 60,000 wafers per month once the work is completed in 2012.

"Our 300mm fabs have been consistently ranked among the most advanced and efficient in the industry," said Chia Song Hwee, chief operating officer at Globalfoundries.

"With this aggressive capacity build-out plan, we are well positioned to provide new and existing customers with the fastest option to get advanced products to market in the volumes they need to ensure success."

Globalfoundries is also actively seeking chip design companies to partner on the development of new processing architectures.

The company will build a research and manufacturing centre in Abu Dhabi with its shareholders, the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC).

Abu Dhabi is keen to establish a chip design centre to match the technological initiatives in the Gulf such as the KAUST research centre in Saudi Arabia.

"This also represents the first step in Abu Dhabi's vision to become a leader in the semiconductor industry," said Ibrahim Ajami, chief executive at ATIC.

"Today we announce the next phase as we take our first steps in establishing a world-class advanced technology cluster over the coming years."