Anadigics breaks new ground for Chinese fabs
Civic representatives in Kunshan, China, have staged colorful celebrations at the ground-breaking ceremony for Anadigics new GaAs fab in the city.
Anadigics current estimates suggest that construction of the new RFIC facility will be completed in the first half of 2008 and operational later the same year.
“Whereas the expansion will enable us to meet our future growth needs it also demonstrates our commitment to the communications market in China as well as the larger Asia-Pacific region," said Bami Bastani, CEO of the Warren, New Jersey based company.
The ground-breaking was performed by Anadigics managers, local dignitaries and politicians from Beijing, an unusual occurrence illustrating Anadigics importance as the flagship in Kunshan s New and Hi-Tech Industrial Development zone.
“The addition of the commercial 6-inch GaAs wafer fab to the development not only shows our ever growing interest of the semiconductor industry but marks a historical first for the city of Kunshan and the country of China,” said the city's vice-mayor Feng-Quan Zhu.
• Johnson Matthey is also entering the Chinese compound semiconductor industry, and recently sold two bulk hydrogen purifiers to LED companies in the country.
Shanghai Blue Light Technology Company has purchased a GPT-30 bulk hydrogen purifier for use in making GaN epitaxial wafers and chips, and HC Semitek, a LED epitaxial wafer producer, has bought a GPT-20 bulk purifier.
“China's compound semiconductor market is one of the fastest growing in Asia,” said Sean Peng, Asian sales manager for gas purification with the global chemical and process technology group.
Johnson Matthey cites the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International association s prediction that 20 new fabs will be operating in China by the end of 2008, attracted by tax incentives and subsidies.
“We anticipate significant growth in China for Johnson Matthey purifiers and related technology and we appreciate the confidence the country s compound semiconductor makers have placed in us,” Peng said.
