After almost 35 years, the SCL, Semi-Conductor Laboratory in the city of Mohali, Punjab, is now proceeding to wipe out the scars of a fire that once ran its 51-acre campus. The Modernization Alignment (MA) project launched by Meity, an initiative amounting to a substantial Rs 10,000 crore, is designed to not only revamp the existing 180 nm technology fab, but also to introduce 28 nm technology.
Unfortunately, the story of irony is that from the year 1984, SCL started its operations when Taiwan's Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was not yet in business and the chip manufacturer later became a global giant. Due to challenges such as the fire that occurred and the state-owned company nature that is typical of bureaucracy, SCL stopped its operation until 1995.
The personal experience of Manoj Wadhwa, the group head at VLSI and MEMS fabrication, brings back those times when the team underwent a two-year transformation period in AMS, Austria and made the switch from 2 microns to 1.2 microns, a landmark they reached upon returning to India.
Today, as Micron based in the US goes to announce the launch of its first chip from its own assembly, test, marking, and packaging (ATMP) facility located in the city of Sanand, Gujarat, SCL imparts relevant training to Micron's personnel and extends its services to the emerging endeavors.
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