The Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), have announced plans to establish the first of three proposed semiconductor research centers in Albany, New York.
NY Creates, a non-profit that owns and operates research centers across New York, has been awarded $825 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to launch a chip R&D facility – dubbed the NSTC EUV Accelerator – at its Albany NanoTech complex.
On NY Creates’ website, Albany NanoTech is described as North America’s “largest and most advanced semiconductor research and development facility.” The EUV Accelerator is expected to begin operations in 2025.
The research center will be housed in a building called NanoFab Reflection, a $410m development currently under construction on the NanoTech campus. The new facility will focus its research efforts on extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), a technology needed to make the most advanced 3nm and 5nm chips.
In a statement, the Department of Commerce said the research center will have three primary goals: To extend US technology leadership; reduce prototyping time and cost; and build and sustain a semiconductor workforce.
Access to cutting-edge EUV lithography tools, including high numerical aperture (NA) EUV systems, will be provided at the site by the end of 2026. High NA EUV machines require less light per exposure than traditional EUV machines, reducing the time required to print each layer, and therefore increasing wafer output.
“The CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator underscores our commitment to developing and advancing next-generation semiconductor technologies here in the US,” said Deirdre Hanford, Natcast CEO. “Through this collaboration with NY Creates, Natcast, and NSTC members will have access to essential EUV lithography tools and processes to facilitate a wider range of research and accelerate commercialization of the technologies of tomorrow.”
The $280bn CHIPS and Science Act, was approved by Congress in July 2022, with $52bn of the overall funding package designated as subsidies for US semiconductor manufacturers. Funding from the act has also been earmarked for semiconductor R&D, growing a skilled semiconductor workforce, and incentives for manufacturing chips and specialized tooling equipment.
Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump criticized the CHIPS and Science Act during a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, saying that the government should have levied tariffs on the semiconductor industry instead of handing out grants and loans to chip companies.
