Chip plant opens in Texas

Texas Instruments (TI) has opened a manufacturing facility in Richardson, Texas.

Known as RFAB, ("R" for Richardson, "FAB" for fabrication), the fab is believed to be the world's only production facility to use 300 mm silicon wafers to manufacture analog chips.

The facility will give the company an advantage in high-volume production because thousands of analog chips can be etched onto each of these wafers, more than double the number on the more commonly used and smaller 200 mm wafers.

The facility will produce analog integrated circuits based on TI's process. Users will use these chips in electronics ranging from smartphones and netbooks, to telecom and computing systems.

TI plans to release the first chips from the facility by the end of 2010. When the first phase of equipment is ramped and producing at full capacity, the facility will be able to produce more than $1.2 billion worth of analog chips a year.