We have a blog post today from Israel Beinglass, the CTO of MonolithIC 3D Inc. Israel spent almost 20 years at Applied Materials, and was Chief Technology Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager at various divisions there. Israel gives us a "fab-equipment perspective" on Monolithic 3D technology.
Fab equipment cost has been rising significantly every generation, and forms one of the key barriers to Moore’s law today. The depreciation portion of wafer cost is about 45%, see this link. Usually the equipment value is depreciated over 4 years using the straight line method, although some companies use a more aggressive depreciation schedule (3 years).
If a 45nm 300mm logic wafer costs $3,000 to manufacture initially when the Fab is new, the same wafer will cost about $1,600 after 3-4 years when the equipment is fully depreciated. Moreover, the yield will typically be higher, so the wafer buyer enjoys that financial benefit too. In that case, instead of investing in the new node, the case of Monolithic 3D makes sense since one can build a chip with twice the integration at about the same cost to the Fab as a few years back. This, coupled with the die size savings offered by Monolithic 3D, could make the technology a win-win option for both the Fab and the customer.
If a 45nm 300mm logic wafer costs $3,000 to manufacture initially when the Fab is new, the same wafer will cost about $1,600 after 3-4 years when the equipment is fully depreciated. Moreover, the yield will typically be higher, so the wafer buyer enjoys that financial benefit too. In that case, instead of investing in the new node, the case of Monolithic 3D makes sense since one can build a chip with twice the integration at about the same cost to the Fab as a few years back. This, coupled with the die size savings offered by Monolithic 3D, could make the technology a win-win option for both the Fab and the customer.
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