In early February, GlobalFoundries did something completely unexpected: for the second time in ten years, they invited a few select press and analysts to visit one of their fabrication plants (‘fabs’), where they make AMD processors, IBM silicon, and ASICs from a variety of companies. We were invited to Fab 8 in upstate New York, GF’s leading edge fab, which will be the site of the company’s 7nm and EUV offerings that will propel the fastest processors over the next three-to-five years. To get into the factory floor clean room requires a ‘bunny suit’ such that no particulates can enter the air, which could potentially cause defects or manufacturing processes to fail. To be invited is a rare thing indeed, and so here is our tale, in podcast form!

The AnandTech Podcast #45: GlobalFoundries and Fab 8

Featuring

Ian Cutress, Host

Senior Editor

@IanCutress Nate Oh

GPU Editor

@NateATGPU

Many thanks to Gavin Bonshor for editing.

iTunes

RSS - mp3, m4a

Direct Links - mp3, m4a

Total Time: 1 hour 14 seconds

Outline mm:ss

00:00 Introduction

00:21 An Unexpected Invite

04:53 A Media Tour, Without A Launch

07:27 GlobalFoundries: A Foundry

12:40 The Clean Room

24:45 Correction: 60k Wafer Starts per Month

29:15 Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) Tools

41:11 Below Decks: The Sub-Fab

50:38 Fab 8 Running at 100% Capacity (and Other Info)

60:14 FIN

Also in our GlobalFoundries Fab Tour, we have: