Development Methodology

Engineers from all seven Joint Development partners work together at IBM’s East Fishkill, NY research and development facility to drive the next generation of manufacturing innovation. Here, each new process is developed and tested before being deployed around the world to other manufacturing facilities. In addition, research on new manufacturing techniques, materials and equipment is carried out here.

Once the core process is developed at IBM’s Fab 323 in East Fishkill, the process is rolled out to be qualified at fabs in Chartered and Samsung. The qualification and ramp process is coordinated by all partners who regularly share their insight and expertise. Throughout the ramp process, the performance of test chip vehicles is compared to ensure that all processes are achieving similar results. Once the fabs are in operation fabricating the same designs, test and product vehicles are compared on a quarterly basis to ensure synchronization of the fabs.