Applied Materials opened a $5 billion research facility in Sunnyvale, California, that brings chipmakers, equipment partners and researchers under one roof. TSMC, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Micron and SK hynix signed on as founding partners.
Applied Materials Inc. unveiled its Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization Center on Monday, a $5 billion facility built for collaborative semiconductor research and development. The company says the center aims to speed up the development of chipmaking technologies.
A 600,000-square-foot campus with five founding chipmakers
The facility covers 600,000 square feet and houses nearly four acres of cleanroom space at the company's Sunnyvale campus. Construction took more than six million hours, according to the report.
Founding partners include TSMC, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Micron and SK hynix. Broadcom, Advantest, SCREEN, KIOXIA and Besi have also committed as innovation partners. Research partners are Arizona State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.
Materials, equipment and process work in one place
The center departs from the traditional semiconductor R&D model, in which materials research, equipment development and pilot production typically occur in separate locations. It consolidates those functions to allow parallel development of materials, equipment and process technology.
Capital spending is expected to scale over time to approximately $5 billion as customer projects begin, according to the company's press release. Applied Materials expects the facility to give chipmakers earlier access to next-generation materials and equipment, and to give Applied visibility into emerging technology challenges.
Source: Investing.com
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