San Jose, CA -- September 30, 1996 -- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has announced that its 0.35-micron polycide and salicide process technologies are now available for customer designs. The new process offers up to 40% reduction in chip area over 0.5-micron geometries. By designing with the new process, customers can pack each chip with more circuitry and achieve higher performance. Reduced chip size could also result in smaller packages that free up more area on system boards for additional features which add value and performance to end products.

Ray Hawkins, Chartered senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales, said, "While products must deliver more functionality in smaller form factors, they must also retain the attributes of speed, performance and cost-efficiency. Chartered is committed to offering advanced process technologies in order to help our customers satisfy those demands."

Customers are already running 0.35-micron test chips and test products through the Chartered foundry. The Company is bringing the deep submicron process capability on-line rapidly by running product qualification in parallel with process qualification. This allows customers to see the attributes of the new process in their test chips as they qualify the process.

"The 0.35-micron products have exhibited exceptional yields in our 4-layer metal 0.35-micron polycide and salicide processes. These processes require advanced processing techniques, including chemical and mechanical polishing, and salicide. Salicide technology is a ‘must’ to achieve high performance in 0.35-micron products. While others may have to add salicide technology to their process now, it is already a proven capability at Chartered. We have used salicide in several generations of process technology in volume production as far back as 0.8 micron," Hawkins said.

Chartered has also worked closely with partners in electronic design automation, design implementation and design services to create the libraries customers need to develop next-generation products in deep submicron processes. Parallel development of design libraries and process qualification shortens time to market for customers’ new products.

The 0.35-micron wafers are available from Chartered’s 8-inch fab with capacity of 40,000 wafers per month. A second 8-inch fab, Fab 3, with even greater capacity will begin production in 1997.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (CSM) is an independent, dedicated foundry that provides quality manufacturing and exceptional customer service for semiconductor companies worldwide. Using a comprehensive range of leading-edge processes, CSM manufactures semiconductor products for a broad spectrum of market applications. CSM is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in the United States and Taiwan. CSM is a member company of Singapore Technologies Semiconductors (STS). The STS companies provide design, integrated circuit wafer fabrication, assembly and test, marketing and distribution. STS is a strategic business unit of Singapore Technologies.