Swagelok joins F450C to advance 450 mm wafer fabrication

Swagelok Company is one of 10 leading global companies that have formed the Facility 450 Consortium (F450C) to address the complex facility and infrastructure challenges of 450 mm semiconductor wafer fabrication.

The F450C is a subgroup of the Global 450 Consortium (G450C), which was formed to ensure a smooth and coordinated transition to 450 mm wafers.

“The shift to 450 mm will be extremely complex and will affect every aspect of the industry and all levels of the supply chain,” said Arthur F Anton, President and CEO of Swagelok Company.

“We have a responsibility to our customers to do everything we can to ease this transition and, at the same time, take full advantage of this opportunity to introduce sustainable practices and quality standards that will yield long-term benefits to the industry.”

Where the G450C provides leadership on challenges relating to tools, equipment and processes, the F450C will focus on facility and infrastructure issues, including the design of facilities, wafer handling, tool connection, chemical distribution and water and electrical systems.

The G450C and the F450C will work together to keep operational costs down, improve tool and equipment uptime and provide long-term benefits as the industry builds high-volume 450 mm facilities. Within the F450C, Swagelok will focus on tool installation efficiencies, cleaning specifications, training requirements, safe working environment standards and other facility requirements.

The other F450C member companies are: Air Liquide, CH2M HILL, CS Clean Systems, Ceres Technologies, Edwards, Haws Corporation, Mega Fluid Systems, M+W Group and Ovivo. The F450C will be centred at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in Albany, New York.