Intel’s Fab 42 in Arizona has begun operation last week, the company said.
It is the US chip giant’s third 10-nanometer (nm) fab. Construction began in 2011 and Intel spent US$23 billion for its construction.
Intel has additional 10nm fabs in Oregon in the US and in Israel.
Fab 42 has equipment that supports 450mm wafers. Intel said the factory will produce the latest processor that supports high performance computing.
Intel has already launched Ice Lake, Ice Lake-SP, Elkhart Lake, Snow Ridge, Tiger Lake and DG1 chips using the 10nm process.
Fab 42 will contribute US$8.3 billion to the US economy, CEO Bob Swan has said, and contribute to create 3,000 new jobs.
Intel first mentioned the construction of Fab 42 back in 2009 with a planned budget of US$7 billion. The factory was initially planned to produce 14nm processors. But construction halted in 2014 due to the downturn in the semiconductor market. Construction resumed in February, 2017.
Samsung Electronics and TSMC are ahead in launching chips 10nm or smaller. Samsung began 8nm production this year and is planning to begin production of 6nm and 5nm chips within the year. It will produce 4nm chips next year.
TSMC started 5nm production this year and plans to produce 3nm in 2022.
