How did 300 mm manufacturing become a reality against all odds

Summary form only given. The advent of the 300 mm technology has been predicted soon after the 200 mm technology became a reality and has been expected in the second half of the 90´s. The severe industry downturn of the ´96-´98 has pushed back its implementations by at least five years. One notable exception has been SEMICONDUCTOR300, the joint venture of Motorola and Infineon Technologies, that proceeded unabatedly with the installation of the first 300 mm pilot line in the world. The correlation between the success of this enterprise and the concept of developing new technologies in partnership is not coincidental. Rather, it is just another illustrious example of economics overcoming politics and preconceived ideas. The venture itself has surpassed the parents expectations and has been generating a steady stream of information to be used by them in planning and building large volume 300 mm factories. Aside from the 300 mm equipment and manufacturing data, the venture has also produced new concepts in terms of tools evaluation, automation and manufacturing. Many of these have already been adopted in the established 200 mm environment. The methodology developed has enabled an accurate prediction of the timeframe for successful full volume implementation