A new R&D centre has opened at the Albany NanoTech Complex in New York, expanding semiconductor cleanroom capacity at the NY Creates site.
NY Creates is a state-backed, non-profit organisation operating shared cleanroom facilities and pilot-scale R&D infrastructure for industry and academic partners.
The expansion is anchored by the NanoFab Reflection (NFR) facility, a 310,000 sqft building that includes approximately 50,000 sqft of advanced cleanroom space designed for next-generation semiconductor process development.
The cleanroom expansion was delivered by a DPS Group and Gilbane joint venture as design-build contractors.
The facility will house the NY Creates EUV Lithography Center, supporting both standard numerical aperture EUV lithography and future High-NA EUV capability, expected to come online in late 2026.
Lithography tools and subsystem components for High-NA development are already being delivered and assembled inside the cleanroom.
The cleanroom will support advanced process integration across wet etch, cleaning, coat/develop, anneal and imaging technologies.
Japanese semiconductor manufacturer SCREEN ATCA will establish an on-site R&D presence focused on these process steps.
The collaboration is intended to align US and Japanese semiconductor R&D activity within a shared cleanroom platform.
This will support process development at advanced nodes for high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and next-generation electronics.
Albany NanoTech is one of the largest non-profit semiconductor R&D cleanroom facilities in the US, providing shared infrastructure for pilot-scale fabrication, EUV research and device prototyping.
The wider campus forms part of a multi-phase expansion of US semiconductor R&D infrastructure and is positioned within the proposed National Semiconductor Technology Center network as a shared cleanroom research hub.
In May 2022, NY Creates opened bids for the 50,000 sqft cleanroom expansion.
“The opening of SCREEN ATCA marks yet another major milestone for New York’s globally-recognised semiconductor manufacturing industry,” said New York Governor, Kathy Hochul.
“With SCREEN ATCA now operational at our Albany NanoTech Complex, we are unlocking exciting opportunities for collaboration, reflecting a shared commitment to catalyse semiconductor innovation in New York,” said Dave Anderson, NY Creates President and CEO.