In alliance, Intel Mexico and Costa Rica create semiconductors
October 15, 2021 Editorial 0 Comments intel
According to the processor manufacturer, its offices in Guadalajara and Costa Rica are a fundamental part of the semiconductor manufacturing process, and currently have more than 500 open vacancies at both sites.
Semiconductor design and manufacturing is one of the most complex engineering processes ever performed, where hundreds of millions of transistors are packed into surfaces the size of a fingernail. And this component is the fundamental basis of the devices that support the digital world on which we are most dependent today.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, in the world there are more than 100 billion integrated circuits in daily use, and as a result of an exponential increase in the demand for this input, at the beginning of 2021 the world began to hear about its scarcity and the impact it had on various industries.
Therefore, in order to sustain technological demand, as well as to diversify the supply chain, now 80% concentrated in Asia, Intel makes significant investments around the world including $ 20 billion dollars to build two new factories in Arizona and $ 600 million in Costa Rica, among others. All this, to reach the objective of balancing the supply chain by 2030, where at least 50% of the work is carried out in America and Europe, and the other 50% in Asia.
“Our strategy at Intel called IDM 2.0 is a differentiated formula that will deliver a new era of innovation, manufacturing and product leadership through diverse capabilities, including Intel Foundry Services, which will provide advanced US-based manufacturing and packaging capabilities. and Europe, to help our customers turn silicon into solutions, using industry standard design packages, ”said Marcelo Bertolami, Intel's general manager for the Americas territory.
The design and manufacture of these components is one of the most complex engineering processes that humanity performs, explain the spokesmen, which takes up to 20 weeks to complete, along six stages: design, creation of masks, manufacturing, individualization and sorting, testing and assembly, and storage.
In each of these steps, Latin American professionals participate at Intel's facilities in Guadalajara (Mexico) and Costa Rica. Research is one of the phases that takes place before production begins and in which Latin America participates.
Here, engineers and scientists from sites like the Intel Guadalajara Design Center (GDC) in Mexico develop technologies that will be used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. For its part, Intel Costa Rica participates in several of these phases, such as the creation of masks that contain the information that will be used for each step of the semiconductor manufacturing process.
Another stage in which Latin America plays a relevant role is in testing and assembly. When the silicon wafers are ready, they are cut into individual chips and placed in reels through the process of individualization and sorting. Once the chips are cut and sorted, they are taken to a testing and assembly plant. Intel Costa Rica is one of the few plants in the world that performs this process, where each chip is assembled in a package that protects it and allows it to connect to other components, so that its functionality is finally tested.
“We proudly join, along with Asia, as the only Intel sites to carry out assembly and testing work at a global level, making Intel Costa Rica the first country in Latin America to carry out this function. In September of this year we started operations in our new plant and today we have the initial capacity to incorporate into production, growing gradually in the remainder of this and the next few years ”, commented Max Ramírez, director of factory and manufacturing operations at Intel Costa Rica.
Finally, the processors are tested one last time before being shipped to consumers. Each of Intel's technologies carries behind a very complex integral process that ensures that the highest quality that characterizes us as a company is met. Validation is one of the critical links in that chain, and the GDC is the only Intel laboratory in all of Latin America that does this task. This center is the largest site with validation activities outside of the US.
“At Intel, we are committed to creating a better world, through the power of our technology and the passion of our employees.
De acuerdo con el fabricante de procesadores, sus oficinas en Guadalajara y Costa Rica son parte fundamental del proceso de manufactura de un semiconductor, y
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