Russia goes for 90nm

Russian semiconductor company Angstrem of Zelenograd near Moscow has licensed 90nm process technology from IBM and design software which will allow it to offer foundry services.

Angstrem is trying to build a 110-130nm fab to house $300m worth of fab equipment which it bought from AMD in 2008.

Sitronics/Mikron, also of Zelenograd, is to double production with a new 90nm line capable of running 36,000 eight inch wafers a year. Sitronics/Mikron is running memory ICs on the line and plans to run telecoms chip-sets and SIM cards.

“We now have a range of integrated circuits, including RFID, and supply them for export, especially to Southeast Asia, where this technology is evolving rapidly and the demand is very high,” says Gennady Krasnikov, Head of Sitronics and Chairman of Mikron.

Mikron will develop 65-45-32nm processes at the Molecular Electronics Research Institute (MERI), which is now separate from Mikron and still managed by Krasnikov but a 65/45 nm fab building project is on hold.

It will be also necessary to deliver and install process equipment which was purchased from AMD in 2008 for about 300 million euros.

MRAM maker Crocus Technologies has $300m from Rusnano to invest in a 90nm 300mm MRAM fab capable of 500 wafer a week. It is planned to be in operation in two years time.

Russia’s Minister of Industry, Denis Manturov, says the Russian government is to invest $16bn in its electronics industry between now and 2025. The programme is mainly aimed at developing components for the automotive, energy and defence industries.