Syracuse, N.Y. — The nation’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center will be in Albany, a big boost for Upstate New York’s status as a chipmaking hub.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said today the new center, at the Albany Nanotech Complex, could receive up to $825 million federal investment from the CHIPS and Science Act, which Schumer sponsored.
“This is the dawn of a new day for Upstate NY and a turning point in U.S. leadership in semiconductor research,” Schumer said in a news release. “Today, Uncle Sam is saying that Upstate NY is the place for developing the next frontier of America’s technological future.”
The center is part of the Biden administration’s effort to bring chipmaking back to the United States from Asia. Establishment of the center means that industry leaders, university researchers and entrepreneurs will have access to the most advanced chipmaking machines in the world.
Those machines include what’s called an extreme ultraviolet lithography, OR EUV, machine. A single, bus-sized EUV machine can cost $500 million, and is critical to laying down the initial pattern for memory chips that are used in phones, cars and other electronic devices.
New York state has provided $1 billion toward the EUV complex.
“From day one of my administration, I pledged that New York State would lead the charge to bring back advanced manufacturing and R&D to the U.S., creating good jobs and opportunity in the process,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
Schumer said the new center will help Micron Technology, which plans to build the nation’s biggest chipmaking plant, in the town of Clay. The project, which Micron says could cost $100 billion to build over the next 20 years, is expected to start construction in late 2025.
Micron says it will use EUV machines at the fabrication plants, or fabs, in Clay. The first fab is expected to open in 2028.
Schumer said the technology center will allow Micron, IBM, GlobalFoundries and other leading semiconductor companies to research and and develop new chips on on Albany’s EUV machine.
The Albany NanoTech Complex is planning to install an EUV there. The complex would become the only publicly owned research-and-development facility in North America that has the latest EUV model.
The EUV center is expected to open in 2025.
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