Stefan Mileschin

Could make the chip shortage worse

Intel is worried about a US proposed import ban on a key chipmaking ingredient, saying the move would worsen an already-perilous shortage of semiconductors.

The ban arises from an allocation that chemical mechanical planarisation slurries that are sold under the name Optiplane made by DuPont’s Rohm & Haas in Taiwan and Japan infringes on products made by Illinois-based CMC Materials.

CMC asked the US International Trade Commission to ban imports of Rohm & Haas slurries.

CMC’s said Optiplane was using Cabot’s “cutting-edge” technology for silica particles in a slurry for polishing the semiconductor layers. Cabot uses the composition for its iDiel family of slurries.

A trade judge in July said a component made overseas infringes Cabot’s patent and rejected DuPont’s argument that the patent is invalid.

Intel warned the commission that “banning Optiplane slurries from US-based semiconductor chip fabrication lines without a 24-month transition period could conflict with national security and economic interests.”

https://fudzilla.com/news/pc-hardwar...ation-slurries