Winbond to build 46nm Buried Wordline stack process

TAIPEI: Winbond Electronics has silently recruited part of ex-Qimonda's R&D team and will build up a 46nm Buried Wordline stack process, making it the first Taiwan-based DRAM manufacturer to build up 40nm node processes in-house, as per sources from the industry.

Taiwan-based commodity DRAM makers, to facilitate cost cutting, gears up to commence mass production at 40nm-class processes by the second half of 2010, Winbond's move to the more greatly developed node is to pave a path for its next-generation specialty DRAM (SDRAM) products, the sources said.

Winbond's 65nm is at the moment its main process technology for SDRAM chips, which would remain competitive throughout 2010, the sources added. Winbond at its most recent investor’s meeting revealed strategy to put together a pool of talent specializing in DRAM procedure development and R&D-related resources, as it looks to get into the 40nm technology period in 2010. Winbond said it had already placed orders for immersion lithography tools.

Winbond did not speak whether it would associate with Elpida Memory on 40nm-class process development. Winbond has apparently inked a foundry deal with Elpida for the production of GDDR chips, with the deliverance to the technology associate placed to start in the first half of 2010.

Winbond in the month of April 2008 signed a deal with Qimonda to authorize 65nm Buried Wordline DRAM technology. Afterwards in the same month, Qimonda and Elpida announced the signing of a MOU for a technology joint venture to mutually develope 4F2 cell theory within the 40nm generation in the year 2010, under which Qimonda would offer its knowledge with Buried Wordline technology and Elpida with its stack capacitor technology.

Qimonda had, in January 2009, filed for insolvency protection, and has been unsuccessful to come across a latest owner to keep it in operation.