Uncle Sam lays out plans for $825M EUV R&D site in New York

The Biden administration on Thursday announced plans to invest $825 million in US CHIPS and Science Act funding to establish a semiconductor research and development center in Albany, New York.

The facility, which will be operated as part of Natcast's National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and located at the NY Create's Albany NanoTech Complex, aims to advance chip manufacturing using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment.

EUV lithography machines have become the go-to in recent years for producing advanced processors used in everything from smartphones, notebooks, and datacenter CPUs and GPUs. The US Commerce Department expects to bring the first EUV lithography machines online in 2025 with more sophisticated high-numerical-aperture EUV equipment coming the following year.

Oh, and if the Albany NanoTech Complex sounds familiar, that's because it's already the home of IBM's semiconductor research fab.

The agencies argue the NSTC R&D center will be critical to ensuring US process leadership, reducing prototyping time, and growing the domestic semiconductor workforce. As we've previously reported, one of the biggest challenges facing US chipmaking ambitions remains a shortage of skilled workers necessary to operate the growing number of American fabs.

"Through this collaboration with NY Creates, Natcast and NSTC members will have access to essential lithography tools and processes to facilitate a wider range of research and accelerate commercialization of the technologies of tomorrow," Natcast CEO Deirdre Hanford said in a canned statement.

The Biden administration's decision to focus on EUV isn't surprising, but could be a boon for the Netherlands' ASML, which, as of 2024, remains the only supplier of EUV equipment. In fact, ASML could end up walking away with more than half the $825 million set aside for the project. ASML's most advanced EUV equipment can cost as much as $373 million.

As we understand it, this funding comes from a $5 billion pool of CHIPS and Science Act funding set aside earlier this year for R&D facilities and workforce development led by the NSTC.

However, it's worth noting that the funding for the facility is far from finalized. Natcast and NY Creates have signed a 10-year non-binding MOU, which is subject to due diligence, ongoing negotiations, and other terms.

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Plans for EUV R&D center come just a day after the Commerce Department announced a separate $100 million funding opportunity for projects involving "cutting-edge artificial intelligence and autonomous experimentation technologies" to advance next-gen semiconductor manufacturing tech.

The funding is expected to be disbursed in bundles of $20-$40 million to universities and other research facilities looking to apply these technologies to chipmaking and process development. ®