AMD has announced the company's Fab 25 manufacturing facility in Austin is in volume production of advanced Flash memory devices. The Austin facility is benefiting from significant capital investment to enable its transition from microprocessor manufacturing to Flash memory production. The conversion is nearly complete with the last microprocessor output planned for the third quarter of this year. Flash memory is a critical enabling technology for a wide variety of products such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, telecommunications devices, and Internet and global positioning systems. Flash memory retains information in the absence of power. Fab 25 is producing 32 Megabit and 64 Megabit Flash memory devices using 0.17 micron technology. The 0.17 micron dimension describes the size of the smallest component within the Flash memory device. The facility is currently equipped for high volume production of 0.13 micron devices. The use of 0.13 micron technology is planned to begin by the end of the year.
