College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering - Business Resources - Centers and Programs

Centers and Programs - International SEMATECH

The Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering will be the location for the global headquarters and operations of International SEMATECH (ISMT), a 12-member global consortium of major computer chip manufacturers, as announced in May 2007 by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

This historic expansion of SEMATECH's operations in Albany will result in the creation of 450 new program-related jobs and retention of 250 existing jobs, as well as creation and retention of 4,550 high-tech jobs within the "ecosystem" of over 500 partner, supplier and contractor companies throughout New York. In addition, SEMATECH will provide $25 million to support the establishment of the New York Alliance for Advanced Science and Technology, which will manage 5 research centers at top-flight research universities across New York.

SEMATECH coordinates and oversees next-generation research, development and commercialization programs in lithography, interconnects, and metrology, among others, while managing global reach and influence through various program partnerships around the world in emerging nanotechnology-driven applications such as nanobiotechnology and sustainable energy.

International SEMATECH

International SEMATECH hosts and administers over 12 centers and consortia, including the EUV Resist Test Center, EUV Mask Blank Development Center, EUV Process Development Center, Alternative Lithography Technologies Center, 3D Interconnect Center, Advanced Metrology Center, the Universal Nanoelectronics Institute for Technology and Education, and the New York Alliance for Advanced Science and Technology. Examples of technical programs include:

193i: Assess extensibility of immersion beyond 45 nm half-pitch, by improving fluids, lens materials, and resists.
EUV: Prepare EUV infrastructure for insertion at 32 nm half-pitch technology generation, using new micro-exposure and full field tools at resist test centers; work toward defect-free mask blanks.
3D: Pursue wafer-to-wafer and die-to-wafer integration by roadmapping technology options, developing unit processes and metrology, and demonstrating functionality and reliability.
Metrology: Focus on the invention, research, development, and application of measurement methods for advanced technologies, with expanded programs in advanced microscopy, and metrology for CMOS and nanotechnology applications.

International SEMATECH first took root at CNSE in 2002, with the establishment of a $400-million, next-generation 300mm R&D center at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex. To support the program, New York State contributed substantial funding along with International SEMATECH and its member companies, including IBM, with initial project research aimed at R&D in the area of advanced lithography infrastructure for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which is crucial for computer chip manufacturing technology in the future because technical advances are expected to cause present day manufacturing methods to become obsolete for the most advanced chips.