Elpida said that it will transfer its new DRAM processes to ProMos, starting with linewidths of 10nm and below. In exchange, ProMos will reserve its production lines and sell chips to Elpida, Tokyo.

ProMos, a venture established by Mosel Vitelic Inc. and Infineon Technologies A.G. of Germany, has been courting technology partners like Elpida since Infineon pulled out of the venture last year as a result of disputes with Mosel.

"This partnership will further increase Elpida's DRAM capacity, allowing us to deliver advanced, high-quality products to the market quickly," said Elpida president Yukio Sakamoto in an announcement made in Tokyo today.

The agreement is the latest in a series of similar arrangements that Elpida has made with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. At a time when the DRAM industry has been in a slump with no sign of bouncing back any time soon, the pattern suggests that Elpida wants to expand market share but avoid spending billions of dollars building its own wafer facilities.

ProMos, which has used trench technology licensed by Infineon, will make 3,000 to 5,000 wafers per month on Elpida's stack technology, making the way for ProMos to smoothly use Elpida's process technologies, Albert Lin, a ProMos board member, said at a press conference in Taipei.

In 2004, Hsinchu-based ProMos plans to build its second 300mm-wafer plant for the production of DRAMs, flash and other memory chips on the stack technology, Lin said.

"We'll be looking for partners to share the cost of the project, but Elpida is not going to be among those that will invest in it," he said. Volume production of the 300mm fab is scheduled for 2005.

ProMos, which has struggled to find new technology sources after the breakup between Mosel and Infineon a few months ago, is pinning its hopes of the success of the partnership with Elpida.

By: DocMemory
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