Intel strongly opposed a US ban on imports of a key ingredient in chip manufacturing, saying the move would exacerbate the semiconductor shortage crisis, foreign media reported.
Intel is trying to dissuade the U.S. International Trade Commission from banning imports of Optiplane, a chemical mechanical flattening paste. Intel told the US International Trade Commission that "this ban on the use of Optiplane paste in US semiconductor chip production lines without a 24-month transition period may conflict with the national security and economic interests of the US".
Rohm & Haas, a subsidiary of duPont, the US chemical company, which makes Optiplane paste in Taiwan and Japan, has been accused of infringing the proprietary technology rights of CMC Materials, a supplier of semiconductor Materials. The ITC, which was due to announce its final decision on December 9 EST, has now delayed its decision until December 16. No reason was given for the one-week delay.
If the ITC approves the ban, it could thrust a little-known legal dispute into the spotlight. Cabot Microelectronics, a unit of CMC, said Optiplane paste uses Cabot's "cutting-edge" technology to extract silica particles from paste that polishes semiconductor layers. Cabot uses this particle in its iDiel series mud.
The manufacturing process for semiconductors, which provide computing and storage for most switching devices, is complex, involving placing conductor and insulator materials on silicon wafers and then burning circuit patterns onto them. The semiconductor manufacturing process takes months to complete, and some of its layers are just one atom thick, like packing billions of transistors onto a stamp-sized silicon chip.
These Optiplane pastes are used at different steps in the chip manufacturing process, and "their subtle differences can have a huge impact on the manufacturing environment," Intel says. Intel relies heavily on its FACTORIES in the United States, so the ban could hurt the company more than some rivals, while chipmakers with factories in Asia won't be affected.
Thomas Chen, an investigative lawyer at the U.S. International Trade Commission, whose lawyers typically act as a third party in such cases on behalf of the public interest, supported Intel's call to delay the import ban for 24 months. Chen told the agency in November that a 24-month transition period would "provide Sufficient time for Intel to find acceptable non-infringing alternatives, which is particularly important given the shortage of semiconductor chips."
Cabot said Intel and DuPont were simply using the chip shortage as an excuse to avoid the import ban.
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