GLOBALFOUNDRIES

What is GLOBALFOUNDRIES actually doing?
GLOBALFOUNDRIES is a US semiconductor producer. The company has more than 16,000 employees worldwide and over 250 customers. In addition to the Dresden plant, there are three production sites in the US and one in Singapore. The term “foundry” in the semiconductor industry means “contract manufacturer”. GLOBALFOUNDRIES produces for customers who use microchips in their end devices, but do not have their own production facilities.

Dresden’s Fab 1 is Europe’s largest and most modern semiconductor plant with an investment of more than 12 billion US dollars. Around 3,000 technicians, engineers and specialists from all over the world work at the company campus.

The microchips are produced on a so-called wafer, a silicon wafer. In order to produce a finished wafer from a raw wafer, more than 1000 process steps are necessary. The smallest structures on a chip are only 22 nanometers in size. For comparison, the cross-section of a human hair has a diameter of 60 microns – that is 60,000 nanometers.

The production takes place in cleanrooms. These are, as the name implies, spaces in which extreme cleanliness prevails. Even the smallest particles of dirt or dust can damage a microchip with its tiny structures. In order to keep the particle load in the cleanroom as low as possible, the production staff wear special cleanroom clothing: a cleanroom suit, a hood, gloves, mask and shoes. The entire body is covered except the eyes.

The finished microchips are then installed by our customers, for example in computers, smartphones or tablets. Currently, GLOBALFOUNDRIES is working on a new generation of microchips that are more powerful and at the same time far more energy efficient than previous generations. These chips are especially suitable for the “Internet of Things”. In the future, not only computers or smartphones, but all everyday objects, such as cars, coffee machines or heaters, will get access to the Internet.

Through its involvement in research and development, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has helped to establish the Free State of Saxony as a leading micro and nanoelectronics center in Europe.