Nanotechnology in New York State: How SUNY University and Corporations Turned the State into the Silicon Valley of the 21st Century
Since the 1990s, New York State (USA) has evolved from a region with a troubled economy into a leading center for research and development in the field of nanotechnology. This is a good example of how a separate initiative of local authorities can globally transform a highly competitive sector of the economy. By attracting major investments in university R & D infrastructure and establishing effective cooperation with private business and regional construction organizations, New York State managed to change the competitive environment in the US semiconductor industry, returning a significant part of the investment flow and jobs in this high-tech industry.
The center of semiconductor nanotechnology development in New York is a branch of the State University of New York in Albany (SUNY Albany) and the College of Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNSE), which is part of it. SUNY is the largest university in the United States, with 88,000 faculty members and 468,000 students, the university's annual research and development budget is about $ 1 billion. The state’s long-term investment in the university’s research infrastructure has enabled it to become the region’s key economic driver and one of the leading nanotechnology centers worldwide.
On the campus of SUNY-Albany is located one of the six high-tech clusters of the state, created to combine university research and development with regional innovation projects. The formation of such innovation clusters was made possible by the effective interaction of state authorities, university management and big business.
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As a result, since the beginning of the 2000s, a number of major investment projects in the field of high technologies, nanotechnics and semiconductors were implemented in New York, so-called “Technology Valley” was created - the center of the world's most advanced semiconductor production and a network of research and development centers in the field of nanotechnology, and the state of New York began to be called the Silicon Valley of the 21st Century.
All these successes are notable for the fact that the main initiator and investor of the projects was not the federal government, but the state leadership and high-tech companies, and their implementation was carried out through SUNY University, regional construction organizations and local private business.
"Technology Valley" of the State of New York
New York State Nanotechnology Corridor
The United States is home to the semiconductor industry, and American semiconductor companies occupy leading positions in terms of technological development and global market share. However, the semiconductor industry is faced with constant challenges, as the improvement of technology leads to a continuous reduction in the size of semiconductor circuits up to the physical limits of miniaturization. Because of this, the cost of development and production increases dramatically: for example, the cost of the current generation semiconductor wafer production plant (300 mm) is more than $ 3 billion, and the next generation (450 mm) wafer costs up to $ 10 billion and above.
Semiconductor companies are responding to these challenges by creating collaborations and, increasingly, by outsourcing research and production functions, since they are the most costly and risky. More and more semiconductor companies around the world, including in the USA, operate on the fabless principle, that is, they order the production of their own products to independent factories (foundry) that provide services on a contract basis.
The United States began to lose its leadership in the semiconductor industry since the early 1980s, as other states (primarily Japan) began to look for ways to develop their own semiconductor industries. The tendency to outsource research and production functions, which was clearly manifested in the 1990s, was due to the creation in such countries as China, Korea, Israel and others. Own semiconductor factories ready to accept orders from American companies at much lower prices due to low local taxes, cheap labor and broad state support.
In addition, some states provide significant benefits to American semiconductor companies when they establish local research and production departments. So, in 2005, Israel signed an agreement with Intel, according to which the corporation built the modern semiconductor production Fab28 (45 nm, 300 mm) in Kiryat Gat in exchange for tax preferences totaling $ 1 billion.
Prospects for large-scale transfer of semiconductor manufacturing and research centers from the United States to other countries, especially in the East Asian region, cause well-founded concern to the US government, as they have a significant damage to the security and technological competitiveness of the country. Competence R & D in the field of technological process - that is, intellectual property and know-how necessary to ensure the operation of semiconductor production - are concentrated directly around the most modern industries. Outsourcing of such industries or their complete absence in the state means the loss of highly qualified personnel and intellectual property objects, without which a competitive industry cannot function.
Similarly, complex supply chains that provide plate production and other technological and metrological functions are also concentrated directly around the factories. Obviously, these trends had a negative effect on the US economy and put many related industries at risk.
Increasing competitive pressure on the American semiconductor industry was skillfully used by the leadership of the State of New York to combat the economic decline of the region in the 1990s. At the initiative of the then governor of the state, George Pataki, a working group of interested government and business representatives was assembled to solve the problem of job cuts in such traditional sectors of the economy of New York as the steel industry, as well as in high-tech companies based in : General Electric, Xerox, Kodak.
The strategy developed by the gubernatorial working group assumed the integration of research and development, education, and business around a university-based research and innovation center. Influenced by IBM, nanotechnology was chosen as the thematic area of ​​innovation — that is, the ability to manipulate matter at the atomic level. The choice was due to the versatility of nanotechnology and the possibilities of their application in various areas: communications, electronics, clean energy, pharmaceuticals and medicine, aviation, space, and military applications. In addition, the choice was influenced by an active member of the working group material scientist Alain Kaloyeros (Alain Kaloyeros), in the early 1990s, who held the post of professor at the University of SUNY-Albany [1] .
The most obvious area of ​​application for nanotechnology in the state of New York has become the semiconductor industry. Already since the 1960s. in Fishkill, New York, IBM semiconductor manufactures operated. Despite the fact that IBM had the most advanced capabilities in the field of microelectronics, by the 1980s. The corporation recognized that as costs and risks increase in microelectronic production, it is increasingly necessary to rely on external sources of supply and on collaboration with foreign manufacturers in order to ensure a steady supply of modern components for their electronic products and systems.
IBM has actively participated in many government and industry initiatives to address growing technological challenges and maintain a stable supplier base that can provide the corporation with components of the required quality and volume. The most significant of these initiatives was the formation in 1987 of the SEMATECH research consortium, created to improve the quality and competitiveness of the US semiconductor industry.
SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) was established in 1987 as a non-profit or non-profit consortium that performs basic research on promising areas of semiconductor integrated circuit technology at the stages of their pre-competitive (non-production) application. SEMATECH was created at the initiative of the US government as a partnership between the government and 14 US semiconductor companies to ensure the technological superiority of the US semiconductor industry over its competitors from Japan, which came out on top in the world in semiconductor manufacturing in the mid-1980s. To provide legal support for the SEMATECH consortium in the United States, a number of laws were passed in 1984, including: Semiconductor Chip Protection Act provided intellectual property protection, and the National Cooperative Research Act weakened antitrust (antitrust) restrictions for joint ventures engaged in research and development.
The initial participants of SEMATECH were the 14 largest US microelectronics companies: AT & T Microelectronics, Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Digital Equipment, Harris Semiconductor, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, LSI Logic, Micron Technology, Motorola, NCR, National Semiconductor, Rockwell International, and Texas Instruments. Initially, most companies showed no interest in government initiatives and joined the consortium under pressure from the government. The annual budget of SEMATECH is $ 200 million. For the first five years, the US government paid half of the annual budget through the Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) of the Department of Defense. The remaining amount was contributed by SEMATECH members in the amount of 1% of their sales. At the same time, the minimum payment amount was $ 1 million, and the maximum - $ 15 million. For about three years, the collapse of this consortium was constantly predicted, but after another two years, the SEMATECH Board of Directors, feeling the benefits of the partnership, bought out the government's share and the entire budget began to be formed only from contributions from SEMATECH members.
In 1994, the restriction on the participation of foreign partners was lifted, and the consortium included the largest semiconductor manufacturers from other countries: Infineon (Germany), NEC (Japan), Panasonic (Japan), Samsung (Korea), Toshiba (Japan), TSMC (Taiwan ) et al. SEMATECH members produce a total of more than 50% of the global semiconductor IC market. In accordance with its status, SEMATECH itself cannot design, produce and sell semiconductor products. SEMATECH members provide financial resources and key research personnel for the consortium. Of the total consortium of 400 people, 220 are representatives of participating companies that were supposed to work for 6 to 30 months at the main research center of the consortium in Austin, Texas.
The leadership of the state of New York has sought ways to strengthen the state’s positions in the semiconductor region since the mid-1980s. When SEMATECH was formed in 1987, New York tried unsuccessfully to become the home base of the consortium (instead, the organization settled in Texas). In 1988, at the initiative of the then governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, an advanced training program in semiconductor technology was introduced at SUNY-Albany University. In 1995, the first serious investments were made in the educational and scientific infrastructure of SUNY-Albany. In the early 2000s, a cooperation agreement was signed between SUNY-Albany and IBM to create a world-unique center for research and prototyping nanoelectronics on 300 mm plates.
The state government has developed a large-scale grant program to develop the research infrastructure of the semiconductor industry, which has been widely supported by the industry and in some cases by the federal government:
The creation of R & D infrastructure for many of these projects was partly funded by private investment through the Fuller Road Management Corporation, a private corporation established on the basis of a partnership between the New York State University Research Foundation and the University of Albany Foundation to manage the constructed facilities of the nanotechnology cluster.
In September 2001, New York Governor George Pataki, with the participation of SUNY-Albany professor Alain Kaloyeros, met with SEMATECH president Robert Helms (Robert (Bob) Helms), where he persuaded him to open the SEMATECH research center in New York. The deal, announced in 2002, marked the beginning of research collaboration between SUNY-Albany and SEMATECH. Under the terms of the agreement, investments in joint research from the state and SEMATECH amounted to 160 million and 40 million dollars, respectively; SUNY-Albany and SEMATECH invested $ 120 million in material terms (including the know-how available to SEMATECH); IBM invested $ 100 million in equipment and other resources for the university; New York State has invested an additional $ 50 million in building two research laboratories in Albany.
Coming to New York in 2000–2002 The SEMATECH consortium and the Japanese company Tokyo Electron marked the beginning of a steady and ever-increasing influx of manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor devices and equipment in the area of ​​Albany. Tokyo Electron and SEMATECH were attracted primarily by the construction of a 300 mm diameter semiconductor wafer research center at the university. Held in the first half of the 2000s. the transition of the semiconductor industry from plates with a diameter of 200 mm to 300 mm has significantly reduced the cost of products, however, due to the unprecedented level of investment in research and development and the construction of factories. The creation of a 300 mm research center in Albany gave small companies access to equipment that only giants of the industry could afford earlier. Thanks to a full-scale investment in the SUNY-Albany research infrastructure, which other companies can access, the state of New York has been able to gather in one place all the key factors necessary to form a nanotechnology cluster.
Since 2005, investment in the Albany area has grown even more. In 2005, ASML, one of the world's largest manufacturers of semiconductor process equipment, announced a $ 325 million investment in Albany. IBM, Advanced Micro Devices, Micron Technology and Infineon invested $ 600 million, and the state invested 180 million in the INVENT consortium, created to integrate the technical capabilities of companies to develop advanced lithography technologies. In September 2005, IBM and Applied Materials jointly invested another $ 300 million in nanotechnology R & D in Albany.
In 2006, AMD announced plans to build a semiconductor wafer manufacturing plant worth $ 3.2 billion in Saratoga district, which was the result of almost eight years of negotiations between the company and the state leadership. In 2008, IBM signed a $ 1.6 billion contract with New York State, which included the construction of the MEMS research center and semiconductor packaging technology for 675 jobs and a total area of ​​12,000 m2. SUNY-Albany College of Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNSE) created in the structure of SUNY-Albany became the owner and manager of the center. In 2010, the SEMATECH consortium announced that it was fully transferring its activities from Austin, Texas, to Albany.
As a result, the state of New York managed to form a nanotechnology cluster in the field of nano- and microelectronics, practically uniting the entire technological cycle of development and production of the latest semiconductor components, including training, development and production of experimental samples, their commercial production, development and production of the necessary tools , equipment and tooling.
In 2004, the College of Nanoscale Science and Technology (Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, CNSE) was created as part of SUNY-Albany, the purpose of which was to train highly qualified specialists in the field of nanotechnology. The initiator of the CNSE was the then Governor of the State of New York, George Pataki, who was convinced that the creation of a college of nanotechnologies would lead to the formation of a high-tech cluster. The faculty was drawn from other SUNY institutes and commercial companies, in addition, CNSE began to attract scientists (including IBM and SEMATECH) who worked in research positions at the university. By 2007, the number of students at CNSE was 120 against the original 40, and prominent scientists were involved in the staff, for example, Ji Ung Lee, a leading expert in carbon nanotubes from GE Global Research.
CNSE Guide. In the center - Alain Kaloyeros, president and CEO of SUNY-Albany.
In 2006, the Small Time stock exchange called CNSE "college number 1 for studying nanotechnology." In 2007, the SEMATECH consortium placed its headquarters on the CNSE territory, thanks to which a building with an area of ​​23,000 m 2 and a cost of $ 100 million (NanoFab East) was built at the college. In a presentation of 2008, SEMATECH Executive Director Michael R. Polcari noted that although the research activities of the Albany consortium were limited mainly to lithography, “in the future, almost all major SEMATECH research projects will be carried out in Albany, including three-dimensional interconnects. According to him, “most of the technological breakthroughs that the members of SEMATECH are working on are now taking place in CNSE, creating more powerful computer chips with greater profitability. The nanotechnology college is headed by advanced research in the field of so-called extremely ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, where light with an extremely short wavelength is used to etch the smallest components and circuits onto the plate [2] .
By 2015, more than 400 students enrolled in 4 areas are enrolled in CNSE:
The CNSE includes a large number of research centers and laboratories, where faculty members, students, and representatives of commercial companies implement many research programs. The following is a list of some of them:
The core of the CNSE in Albany is the Nanotechnology Complex (NanoTech Complex) with a material base area (training, laboratory and office space) of 120,000 m 2 . The area of ​​first-class clean production facilities is 12,500 m 2. They contain unique laboratory and production equipment, including a fully integrated line for the production of pilot prototypes of integrated circuits on plates 300 mm and 450 mm in diameter. The CNSE Nanotechnology Complex employs more than 4,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students and teachers. CNSE centers and laboratories are located not only inside the Albany nanocluster, but also outside of it throughout New York State (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Canandaigua, Utica). The total cost of investment in the development of CNSE is more than 43 billion dollars.
The scale of integration of CNSE with industrial companies and corporations is also significant. The number of CNSE corporate partners is more than 300 and includes the world's leading companies and consortia in the field of nano and microelectronics: IBM, Intel, GlobalFoundries, Samsung, TSMC, Toshiba, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, ASML, Lam Research, SEMATECH, G450C. Turns CNSE into the world's leading research and training center for nanotechnology, both in the concentration of specialists and in infrastructure investments and the volume of work performed.
The CNSE owns infrastructure not only on campus in Albany, but throughout the state. The table below shows the main properties of CNSE and the technological possibilities available in them.
According to CNSE official information, the Albany Nanotechnology Complex is a fully integrated system of training, research, development and prototyping, providing strategic support to corporate residents of the complex through coordination with government agencies, technology acceleration, business incubation, pilot prototyping and measurement.
The research and production infrastructure of the complex provides a full cycle of work in such areas as nano- and microelectronics, nanophotonics and optoelectronics, nano- and microelectromechanical systems (NEMS and MEMS), nanoenergy.
The world's largest full range of equipment for production on plates with a diameter of 450 mm:
Plot integrated line for plates 450 mm.
Production on plates with a diameter of 300 mm
Technological processes:
Comparison of a plate with a diameter of 300 mm and the first 450 mm plate, structured by the immersion lithography method of 193 nm (193i). June 2014.
Production on plates with a diameter of 100 mm, 150 mm, 200 mm:
Technological processes:
In addition to microelectronic production for the needs of nanocluster participants, CNSE accepts orders for the manufacture of plates with a diameter of 200 mm and 300 mm from third-party organizations that are not CNSE residents. In this case, the applicant should contact the vice-president of CNSE for business development to assess the feasibility of the project, its approximate duration and cost. In case of agreement with the conditions in principle, the applicant fills out an application form for processing plates and sends it along with the technical documentation (topology, requirements for masks, plates, measurements) at CNSE, where the work is billed. After that, the parties sign a contract for processing plates and the project is put in a queue for production.
In September 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the signing of an agreement between the state of New York and five leading microelectronic enterprises: IBM, Global Foundries, Samsung, Intel, and TSMC to establish next-generation semiconductor manufacturing in New York, founded on plates with a diameter of 450 mm. The state has pledged to invest $ 400 million in CNSE, provided that the budget money will not be sent to any particular consortium company. Five members of the consortium, in turn, pledged to invest a total of $ 4 billion.
The created structure was named the Global Consortium for the Design and Implementation of Plates with a Diameter of 450 mm (Global 450mm Wafer Development and Deployment Consortium, G450C). The headquarters of the consortium is located on the territory of the CNSE nanocluster in the NanoFab Xtension building, and one of the lines for the 450 mm plates is also located here (the output at the design capacity is planned in 2016).
The creation of the consortium is designed to simplify the creation of semiconductor production in New York State using new generation technologies on 450 mm plates with an investment cost of more than $ 10 billion per plant. According to forecasts, the G450C should create a total of 2,500 new high-tech jobs in the state, and the number of jobs created in the construction industry in Albany was 1,500.
The goals of the G450C are to implement two projects:
The CNSE Project is the New York State University Research Foundation (SUNY Research Foundation), from the State of New York - the New York State Urban Development Corporation through the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC).
Under the terms of Project No. 1, IBM invests a total of more than $ 3.6 billion in R & D and prototyping using 22 nm and 14 nm technologies at three sites: in the CNSE nanocluster in Albany and at IBM factories in Fishkill and Yorktown Heights.
IBM investment commitments may be fulfilled with the participation of IBM partners, manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and materials.
In turn, under the terms of the agreement, the Fund (CNSE) ensures the commissioning of the NanoFab Xtension complex (commissioned in 2013), provides IBM with clean rooms of 1000 m2 and attracts New York state budget funding (through ESDC) in an amount not more than $ 200 million for 5 years. The Fund, on behalf of CNSE, owns all the material and technical objects, tools and equipment according to the technology of 22 nm and 14 nm, acquired at the expense of budget funds.
Under the terms of Project No. 2, the Foundation (CNSE) provides members of the G450C consortium with additional clean rooms with an area of ​​2300 m2. For the purchase of equipment, the Fund attracts state budget funds in the amount of not more than $ 200 million in a period of 5 years (excluding material and technical facilities). The consortium members, in turn, pledge to make a total investment of more than $ 825 million. Equipment and material and technical objects for production on plates of 450 mm, acquired by the Fund remain in the ownership of the Fund (CNSE) and are leased to the consortium for $ 1 per year. Clean rooms of production G450C in June 2015. According to the investment agreement, the project financing scheme by the parties in 2011–2015. looks like this (state investment does not include the cost of building construction):
The CNSE nanocluster creation mechanism is quite traditional for American high-tech clusters - a large state university (SUNY) forms a specialized research center (CNSE), which in turn begins to attract leading industrial companies with its developments. An important role is played by the assistance of regional authorities - initially the support of the New York state government went directly through various forms of strategic development of "its" university, and then through tax breaks, financing infrastructure projects and targeted grants to industrial companies.
Due to the unique scale of financial and human resources that the state of New York can attract due to its geographic and economic position, the applicability of the model of nanotechnological development of New York is limited at the level of other states of the USA and small territorial units of other states. However, the basic principles of this model could be successfully used to solve similar problems at a broader regional and national level, including in Russia.
Based on open sources and official websites of the organizations mentioned
[1] Best Practices in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives.Ed. Ch.W.Wessne. Washington DC 2013
[2] “SEMATECH Boss Touts NanoCollege Research,” The Times Union May 20, 2008.
The center of semiconductor nanotechnology development in New York is a branch of the State University of New York in Albany (SUNY Albany) and the College of Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNSE), which is part of it. SUNY is the largest university in the United States, with 88,000 faculty members and 468,000 students, the university's annual research and development budget is about $ 1 billion. The state’s long-term investment in the university’s research infrastructure has enabled it to become the region’s key economic driver and one of the leading nanotechnology centers worldwide.
On the campus of SUNY-Albany is located one of the six high-tech clusters of the state, created to combine university research and development with regional innovation projects. The formation of such innovation clusters was made possible by the effective interaction of state authorities, university management and big business.
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As a result, since the beginning of the 2000s, a number of major investment projects in the field of high technologies, nanotechnics and semiconductors were implemented in New York, so-called “Technology Valley” was created - the center of the world's most advanced semiconductor production and a network of research and development centers in the field of nanotechnology, and the state of New York began to be called the Silicon Valley of the 21st Century.
All these successes are notable for the fact that the main initiator and investor of the projects was not the federal government, but the state leadership and high-tech companies, and their implementation was carried out through SUNY University, regional construction organizations and local private business.
"Technology Valley" of the State of New York
New York State Nanotechnology Corridor
US semiconductor industry: advantages and challenges
The United States is home to the semiconductor industry, and American semiconductor companies occupy leading positions in terms of technological development and global market share. However, the semiconductor industry is faced with constant challenges, as the improvement of technology leads to a continuous reduction in the size of semiconductor circuits up to the physical limits of miniaturization. Because of this, the cost of development and production increases dramatically: for example, the cost of the current generation semiconductor wafer production plant (300 mm) is more than $ 3 billion, and the next generation (450 mm) wafer costs up to $ 10 billion and above.
Semiconductor companies are responding to these challenges by creating collaborations and, increasingly, by outsourcing research and production functions, since they are the most costly and risky. More and more semiconductor companies around the world, including in the USA, operate on the fabless principle, that is, they order the production of their own products to independent factories (foundry) that provide services on a contract basis.
The United States began to lose its leadership in the semiconductor industry since the early 1980s, as other states (primarily Japan) began to look for ways to develop their own semiconductor industries. The tendency to outsource research and production functions, which was clearly manifested in the 1990s, was due to the creation in such countries as China, Korea, Israel and others. Own semiconductor factories ready to accept orders from American companies at much lower prices due to low local taxes, cheap labor and broad state support.
In addition, some states provide significant benefits to American semiconductor companies when they establish local research and production departments. So, in 2005, Israel signed an agreement with Intel, according to which the corporation built the modern semiconductor production Fab28 (45 nm, 300 mm) in Kiryat Gat in exchange for tax preferences totaling $ 1 billion.
Prospects for large-scale transfer of semiconductor manufacturing and research centers from the United States to other countries, especially in the East Asian region, cause well-founded concern to the US government, as they have a significant damage to the security and technological competitiveness of the country. Competence R & D in the field of technological process - that is, intellectual property and know-how necessary to ensure the operation of semiconductor production - are concentrated directly around the most modern industries. Outsourcing of such industries or their complete absence in the state means the loss of highly qualified personnel and intellectual property objects, without which a competitive industry cannot function.
Similarly, complex supply chains that provide plate production and other technological and metrological functions are also concentrated directly around the factories. Obviously, these trends had a negative effect on the US economy and put many related industries at risk.
Technological Innovation in New York State
Increasing competitive pressure on the American semiconductor industry was skillfully used by the leadership of the State of New York to combat the economic decline of the region in the 1990s. At the initiative of the then governor of the state, George Pataki, a working group of interested government and business representatives was assembled to solve the problem of job cuts in such traditional sectors of the economy of New York as the steel industry, as well as in high-tech companies based in : General Electric, Xerox, Kodak.
The strategy developed by the gubernatorial working group assumed the integration of research and development, education, and business around a university-based research and innovation center. Influenced by IBM, nanotechnology was chosen as the thematic area of ​​innovation — that is, the ability to manipulate matter at the atomic level. The choice was due to the versatility of nanotechnology and the possibilities of their application in various areas: communications, electronics, clean energy, pharmaceuticals and medicine, aviation, space, and military applications. In addition, the choice was influenced by an active member of the working group material scientist Alain Kaloyeros (Alain Kaloyeros), in the early 1990s, who held the post of professor at the University of SUNY-Albany [1] .
The most obvious area of ​​application for nanotechnology in the state of New York has become the semiconductor industry. Already since the 1960s. in Fishkill, New York, IBM semiconductor manufactures operated. Despite the fact that IBM had the most advanced capabilities in the field of microelectronics, by the 1980s. The corporation recognized that as costs and risks increase in microelectronic production, it is increasingly necessary to rely on external sources of supply and on collaboration with foreign manufacturers in order to ensure a steady supply of modern components for their electronic products and systems.
IBM has actively participated in many government and industry initiatives to address growing technological challenges and maintain a stable supplier base that can provide the corporation with components of the required quality and volume. The most significant of these initiatives was the formation in 1987 of the SEMATECH research consortium, created to improve the quality and competitiveness of the US semiconductor industry.
SEMATECH
SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) was established in 1987 as a non-profit or non-profit consortium that performs basic research on promising areas of semiconductor integrated circuit technology at the stages of their pre-competitive (non-production) application. SEMATECH was created at the initiative of the US government as a partnership between the government and 14 US semiconductor companies to ensure the technological superiority of the US semiconductor industry over its competitors from Japan, which came out on top in the world in semiconductor manufacturing in the mid-1980s. To provide legal support for the SEMATECH consortium in the United States, a number of laws were passed in 1984, including: Semiconductor Chip Protection Act provided intellectual property protection, and the National Cooperative Research Act weakened antitrust (antitrust) restrictions for joint ventures engaged in research and development.
The initial participants of SEMATECH were the 14 largest US microelectronics companies: AT & T Microelectronics, Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Digital Equipment, Harris Semiconductor, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, LSI Logic, Micron Technology, Motorola, NCR, National Semiconductor, Rockwell International, and Texas Instruments. Initially, most companies showed no interest in government initiatives and joined the consortium under pressure from the government. The annual budget of SEMATECH is $ 200 million. For the first five years, the US government paid half of the annual budget through the Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) of the Department of Defense. The remaining amount was contributed by SEMATECH members in the amount of 1% of their sales. At the same time, the minimum payment amount was $ 1 million, and the maximum - $ 15 million. For about three years, the collapse of this consortium was constantly predicted, but after another two years, the SEMATECH Board of Directors, feeling the benefits of the partnership, bought out the government's share and the entire budget began to be formed only from contributions from SEMATECH members.
In 1994, the restriction on the participation of foreign partners was lifted, and the consortium included the largest semiconductor manufacturers from other countries: Infineon (Germany), NEC (Japan), Panasonic (Japan), Samsung (Korea), Toshiba (Japan), TSMC (Taiwan ) et al. SEMATECH members produce a total of more than 50% of the global semiconductor IC market. In accordance with its status, SEMATECH itself cannot design, produce and sell semiconductor products. SEMATECH members provide financial resources and key research personnel for the consortium. Of the total consortium of 400 people, 220 are representatives of participating companies that were supposed to work for 6 to 30 months at the main research center of the consortium in Austin, Texas.
The leadership of the state of New York has sought ways to strengthen the state’s positions in the semiconductor region since the mid-1980s. When SEMATECH was formed in 1987, New York tried unsuccessfully to become the home base of the consortium (instead, the organization settled in Texas). In 1988, at the initiative of the then governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, an advanced training program in semiconductor technology was introduced at SUNY-Albany University. In 1995, the first serious investments were made in the educational and scientific infrastructure of SUNY-Albany. In the early 2000s, a cooperation agreement was signed between SUNY-Albany and IBM to create a world-unique center for research and prototyping nanoelectronics on 300 mm plates.
The state government has developed a large-scale grant program to develop the research infrastructure of the semiconductor industry, which has been widely supported by the industry and in some cases by the federal government:
- New York State has allocated $ 85 million for the construction of the Innovation Center for Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology (Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, CENN). The total amount of public-private investment was $ 185 million, the main private investor was IBM.
- New York State has allocated $ 100 million to develop semiconductor manufacturing technologies at the Albany Innovation Center. The total amount of public-private investment was $ 300 million, the main private investor was Tokyo Electron.
- New York State has allocated $ 35 million to support the Interconnect Focus Center for Hyper-Integration, which works on nanoscale interconnect technology. The project was co-financed by DARPA and Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation (MARCO).
The creation of R & D infrastructure for many of these projects was partly funded by private investment through the Fuller Road Management Corporation, a private corporation established on the basis of a partnership between the New York State University Research Foundation and the University of Albany Foundation to manage the constructed facilities of the nanotechnology cluster.
In September 2001, New York Governor George Pataki, with the participation of SUNY-Albany professor Alain Kaloyeros, met with SEMATECH president Robert Helms (Robert (Bob) Helms), where he persuaded him to open the SEMATECH research center in New York. The deal, announced in 2002, marked the beginning of research collaboration between SUNY-Albany and SEMATECH. Under the terms of the agreement, investments in joint research from the state and SEMATECH amounted to 160 million and 40 million dollars, respectively; SUNY-Albany and SEMATECH invested $ 120 million in material terms (including the know-how available to SEMATECH); IBM invested $ 100 million in equipment and other resources for the university; New York State has invested an additional $ 50 million in building two research laboratories in Albany.
Coming to New York in 2000–2002 The SEMATECH consortium and the Japanese company Tokyo Electron marked the beginning of a steady and ever-increasing influx of manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor devices and equipment in the area of ​​Albany. Tokyo Electron and SEMATECH were attracted primarily by the construction of a 300 mm diameter semiconductor wafer research center at the university. Held in the first half of the 2000s. the transition of the semiconductor industry from plates with a diameter of 200 mm to 300 mm has significantly reduced the cost of products, however, due to the unprecedented level of investment in research and development and the construction of factories. The creation of a 300 mm research center in Albany gave small companies access to equipment that only giants of the industry could afford earlier. Thanks to a full-scale investment in the SUNY-Albany research infrastructure, which other companies can access, the state of New York has been able to gather in one place all the key factors necessary to form a nanotechnology cluster.
Since 2005, investment in the Albany area has grown even more. In 2005, ASML, one of the world's largest manufacturers of semiconductor process equipment, announced a $ 325 million investment in Albany. IBM, Advanced Micro Devices, Micron Technology and Infineon invested $ 600 million, and the state invested 180 million in the INVENT consortium, created to integrate the technical capabilities of companies to develop advanced lithography technologies. In September 2005, IBM and Applied Materials jointly invested another $ 300 million in nanotechnology R & D in Albany.
In 2006, AMD announced plans to build a semiconductor wafer manufacturing plant worth $ 3.2 billion in Saratoga district, which was the result of almost eight years of negotiations between the company and the state leadership. In 2008, IBM signed a $ 1.6 billion contract with New York State, which included the construction of the MEMS research center and semiconductor packaging technology for 675 jobs and a total area of ​​12,000 m2. SUNY-Albany College of Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNSE) created in the structure of SUNY-Albany became the owner and manager of the center. In 2010, the SEMATECH consortium announced that it was fully transferring its activities from Austin, Texas, to Albany.
As a result, the state of New York managed to form a nanotechnology cluster in the field of nano- and microelectronics, practically uniting the entire technological cycle of development and production of the latest semiconductor components, including training, development and production of experimental samples, their commercial production, development and production of the necessary tools , equipment and tooling.
CNSE: College of Nanoscale Science and Technology
In 2004, the College of Nanoscale Science and Technology (Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, CNSE) was created as part of SUNY-Albany, the purpose of which was to train highly qualified specialists in the field of nanotechnology. The initiator of the CNSE was the then Governor of the State of New York, George Pataki, who was convinced that the creation of a college of nanotechnologies would lead to the formation of a high-tech cluster. The faculty was drawn from other SUNY institutes and commercial companies, in addition, CNSE began to attract scientists (including IBM and SEMATECH) who worked in research positions at the university. By 2007, the number of students at CNSE was 120 against the original 40, and prominent scientists were involved in the staff, for example, Ji Ung Lee, a leading expert in carbon nanotubes from GE Global Research.
CNSE Guide. In the center - Alain Kaloyeros, president and CEO of SUNY-Albany.
In 2006, the Small Time stock exchange called CNSE "college number 1 for studying nanotechnology." In 2007, the SEMATECH consortium placed its headquarters on the CNSE territory, thanks to which a building with an area of ​​23,000 m 2 and a cost of $ 100 million (NanoFab East) was built at the college. In a presentation of 2008, SEMATECH Executive Director Michael R. Polcari noted that although the research activities of the Albany consortium were limited mainly to lithography, “in the future, almost all major SEMATECH research projects will be carried out in Albany, including three-dimensional interconnects. According to him, “most of the technological breakthroughs that the members of SEMATECH are working on are now taking place in CNSE, creating more powerful computer chips with greater profitability. The nanotechnology college is headed by advanced research in the field of so-called extremely ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, where light with an extremely short wavelength is used to etch the smallest components and circuits onto the plate [2] .
By 2015, more than 400 students enrolled in 4 areas are enrolled in CNSE:
- Nanoscale sciences (bachelor, master, Ph.D.)
- Nanotechnology (bachelor, master, Ph.D.)
- Nanobiotechnology (Ph.D.)
- Economics of Nanoproducts (Ph.D.)
The CNSE includes a large number of research centers and laboratories, where faculty members, students, and representatives of commercial companies implement many research programs. The following is a list of some of them:
- Solar Development Center. Partners: SEMATECH, US Photovoltaic Consortium.
- Center for Advanced Technologies in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics (CATN2).
- Center for Nanoscale Lithography (CNL). Partner: Vistec Lithography, Inc.
- Center for Semiconductor Technology Research (CSR). Partners: IBM, Advanced Micro Devices, SONY, Toshiba, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials.
- R & D Center for Computer Chip Integration (CICC). Partners: IBM and SEMATECH.
- R & D Center Applied Materials.
The core of the CNSE in Albany is the Nanotechnology Complex (NanoTech Complex) with a material base area (training, laboratory and office space) of 120,000 m 2 . The area of ​​first-class clean production facilities is 12,500 m 2. They contain unique laboratory and production equipment, including a fully integrated line for the production of pilot prototypes of integrated circuits on plates 300 mm and 450 mm in diameter. The CNSE Nanotechnology Complex employs more than 4,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students and teachers. CNSE centers and laboratories are located not only inside the Albany nanocluster, but also outside of it throughout New York State (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Canandaigua, Utica). The total cost of investment in the development of CNSE is more than 43 billion dollars.
The scale of integration of CNSE with industrial companies and corporations is also significant. The number of CNSE corporate partners is more than 300 and includes the world's leading companies and consortia in the field of nano and microelectronics: IBM, Intel, GlobalFoundries, Samsung, TSMC, Toshiba, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, ASML, Lam Research, SEMATECH, G450C. Turns CNSE into the world's leading research and training center for nanotechnology, both in the concentration of specialists and in infrastructure investments and the volume of work performed.
CNSE infrastructure
The CNSE owns infrastructure not only on campus in Albany, but throughout the state. The table below shows the main properties of CNSE and the technological possibilities available in them.
| An object | City | Commissioning | Volume of investments, million $ | Area, m2 | Clean rooms area, m2 | Technological capabilities |
| NanoFab 200 (CESTM) | Albany, CNSE campus | 1997 | 16.5 | 6500 | 370 | 22 nm - 90 nm Plates 200 mm |
| NanoFab South (NFS) | Albany, CNSE campus | 2004 | 50 | 14,000 | 3000 | 14 nm, 22 nm, 28 nm, 32 nm, 45nm, 65 nm, 90 nm 300 mm plates |
| NanoFab North (NFN) | Albany, CNSE campus | 2005 | 175 | 21200 | 3300 | 14 nm, 22 nm, 28 nm, 32 nm, 45nm, 65 nm, 90 nm Plates 150, 200, 300 mm |
| NanoFab East (NFE) | Albany, CNSE campus | 2009 | 150 | 23,000 | - | Educational and administrative premises |
| NanoFab Central (NFC) | Albany, CNSE campus | 2009 | 9300 | 1400 | 14 nm, 22 nm, 28 nm, 32 nm, 45nm, 65 nm, 90 nm 300 mm plates | |
| NanoFab Xtension (NFX) | Albany, CNSE campus | 2013 | 365 | 46,000 | 4600 | 7 nm (in development), 10 nm, 14 nm Plates 300, 450 mm |
| Zero Energy Nanotechnology (ZEN) | Albany, CNSE campus | 2015 | 191 | 33,000 | - | "Living" laboratory of clean and renewable energy sources. Non-volatile building. |
| Center for Innovative Smart City Technology (SCiTI) | Albany | - | thirty | Development of smart devices, sensors, IC, software for monitoring traffic and urban infrastructure | ||
| Solar Development Center (CNSE SEDC) | Halfmoon | 1700 | Line prototyping and demonstration of thin-film CIGS solar cells | |||
| Center for commercialization of computer chips (QUAD-C) | Utica | 125 | 23,000 | 5200 | PCU: ANS, SEMATECH, Atotech, IBM, Lam Research and Tokyo Electron | |
| Nanocenter Marcy | Utica | building | - | 766000 | 3x42000 | Plates 450 mm 3 semiconductor. factories |
| CNSE's Central New York Hub for Emerging Nano Industries | Syracuse | 2015 | 150 | 9670 | ||
| CNSE's Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center (CNSE STC) | Rochester, Cananda-gua | 2010 | 39 | 12,000 | 2400 | Manufacturing MEMS. Enclosing Plates 200, 300 mm |
| CNSE's Photovoltaic Manufacturing and Technology Development Facility (CNSE MDF) | Rochester | 5300 | 1850 | |||
| Buffalo Medical Innovation and Commercialization Hub | Buffalo | 250 | PCU: drug screening, pharmaceuticals, business attraction, staff training, bioinformatics | |||
| Buffalo High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend | Buffalo | Stage 1 | 1,725 | 25600 | CKP: biotechnology, high technology, clean energy | |
| Buffalo Information Technologies Innovation and Commercialization Hub | Buffalo | 55 | IBM key tenant: IT solutions for military, molecular and genetic research, energy efficiency |
CNSE Production Resources
According to CNSE official information, the Albany Nanotechnology Complex is a fully integrated system of training, research, development and prototyping, providing strategic support to corporate residents of the complex through coordination with government agencies, technology acceleration, business incubation, pilot prototyping and measurement.
The research and production infrastructure of the complex provides a full cycle of work in such areas as nano- and microelectronics, nanophotonics and optoelectronics, nano- and microelectromechanical systems (NEMS and MEMS), nanoenergy.
Semiconductor manufacturing
The world's largest full range of equipment for production on plates with a diameter of 450 mm:
- development and production under the auspices of the G450C Consortium: CNSE, IBM, Intel, Samsung, TSMC, Global Foundries;
- 14/10 nm nominal technology;
- 10–7 nm technologies are under development;
- by 2016, equipment availability will be 96%;
- installation plan of lithography equipment for 450 mm:
- 2013 - prototyping, 193i: structuring nodes 14 nm
- 2014 - beta testing, 193 i / dry
- 2014 - beta testing, EUV
- 2015 - 193i / dry production start
- 2016 - start of production of EUV
- 2016 - 193i / dry production
- 2017 - EUV production
Plot integrated line for plates 450 mm.
Production on plates with a diameter of 300 mm
- clean production facilities with a total area of ​​12,500 m2;
- nominal technologies: 14 nm, 22 nm, 28 nm, 32 nm, 45nm, 65 nm, 90 nm CMOS and RF CMOS;
- 10–7 nm technologies are under development;
- full set of equipment: more than 120 installations;
- production capacity of 5,000 plate launches per month (30 per day);
- pilot line operates 24/7;
Technological processes:
- lithography (MUV, 193i, EUV, e-beam);
- film deposition (metals, CVD, dielectrics);
- chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP);
- etching;
- sets of masks (90 nm, 65 nm, 32 nm, TSV);
- CMOS integration (passive RF elements, RF field-effect transistors, MDM capacitors, MEMS).
- heat treatment (Cu annealing);
- metallization (FEOL: NiPt (5%), Ti, TiN, TiOx, Si, Ta, TaN, TaOx. BEOL: Ta, TaN, Cu, Ti).
- liquid chemical treatment
- implantation
- analytical studies (AES, FIB, SEM, SIMS, TEM, XPS, AFM)
Comparison of a plate with a diameter of 300 mm and the first 450 mm plate, structured by the immersion lithography method of 193 nm (193i). June 2014.
Production on plates with a diameter of 100 mm, 150 mm, 200 mm:
- clean production facilities in the NanoFab 200 and NanoFab North complexes;
- substrate material: silicon, glass, ceramics, polymers.
- manufactured devices: MEMS, bioMEMS, RF MEMS, microfluidics, micro-optics, 3D processing.
Technological processes:
- thin film spraying (PVD, ALD, PECVD, evaporation;
- structuring (EVG Bonder / Aligner settings);
- pickling (liquid, TMAH, KOH, dry, oxygen);
- bonding (anodic, thermocompressive, epoxy, temporary);
- chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP)
- full measurement cycle.
In addition to microelectronic production for the needs of nanocluster participants, CNSE accepts orders for the manufacture of plates with a diameter of 200 mm and 300 mm from third-party organizations that are not CNSE residents. In this case, the applicant should contact the vice-president of CNSE for business development to assess the feasibility of the project, its approximate duration and cost. In case of agreement with the conditions in principle, the applicant fills out an application form for processing plates and sends it along with the technical documentation (topology, requirements for masks, plates, measurements) at CNSE, where the work is billed. After that, the parties sign a contract for processing plates and the project is put in a queue for production.
Global Consortium G450C
In September 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the signing of an agreement between the state of New York and five leading microelectronic enterprises: IBM, Global Foundries, Samsung, Intel, and TSMC to establish next-generation semiconductor manufacturing in New York, founded on plates with a diameter of 450 mm. The state has pledged to invest $ 400 million in CNSE, provided that the budget money will not be sent to any particular consortium company. Five members of the consortium, in turn, pledged to invest a total of $ 4 billion.
The created structure was named the Global Consortium for the Design and Implementation of Plates with a Diameter of 450 mm (Global 450mm Wafer Development and Deployment Consortium, G450C). The headquarters of the consortium is located on the territory of the CNSE nanocluster in the NanoFab Xtension building, and one of the lines for the 450 mm plates is also located here (the output at the design capacity is planned in 2016).
The creation of the consortium is designed to simplify the creation of semiconductor production in New York State using new generation technologies on 450 mm plates with an investment cost of more than $ 10 billion per plant. According to forecasts, the G450C should create a total of 2,500 new high-tech jobs in the state, and the number of jobs created in the construction industry in Albany was 1,500.
The goals of the G450C are to implement two projects:
- IBM 22 14 .
- 300 450 , .
The CNSE Project is the New York State University Research Foundation (SUNY Research Foundation), from the State of New York - the New York State Urban Development Corporation through the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC).
Under the terms of Project No. 1, IBM invests a total of more than $ 3.6 billion in R & D and prototyping using 22 nm and 14 nm technologies at three sites: in the CNSE nanocluster in Albany and at IBM factories in Fishkill and Yorktown Heights.
| IBM's investment in project number 1 ($ million) | ||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Total | |
| IBM's Fishkill and Yorktown plants | 500 | 1035 | 870 | 330 | 90 | 2825 |
| CNSE | 200 | 200 | 150 | 150 | 100 | 800 |
IBM investment commitments may be fulfilled with the participation of IBM partners, manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and materials.
In turn, under the terms of the agreement, the Fund (CNSE) ensures the commissioning of the NanoFab Xtension complex (commissioned in 2013), provides IBM with clean rooms of 1000 m2 and attracts New York state budget funding (through ESDC) in an amount not more than $ 200 million for 5 years. The Fund, on behalf of CNSE, owns all the material and technical objects, tools and equipment according to the technology of 22 nm and 14 nm, acquired at the expense of budget funds.
| New York State investment in project number 1 ($ million) | ||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Total | |
| CNSE | 40 | 70 | 60 | thirty | 0 | 200 |
Under the terms of Project No. 2, the Foundation (CNSE) provides members of the G450C consortium with additional clean rooms with an area of ​​2300 m2. For the purchase of equipment, the Fund attracts state budget funds in the amount of not more than $ 200 million in a period of 5 years (excluding material and technical facilities). The consortium members, in turn, pledge to make a total investment of more than $ 825 million. Equipment and material and technical objects for production on plates of 450 mm, acquired by the Fund remain in the ownership of the Fund (CNSE) and are leased to the consortium for $ 1 per year. Clean rooms of production G450C in June 2015. According to the investment agreement, the project financing scheme by the parties in 2011–2015. looks like this (state investment does not include the cost of building construction):
| Investment amount (million USD) | ||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Total | |
| State of New York (through the Foundation and ESDC) | ten | thirty | 40 | 70 | 50 | 200 |
| Intel | 7.5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 75 |
| Samsung | 7.5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 75 |
| TSMC | 7.5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 75 |
| Ibm | 7.5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 75 |
| Global foundries | 7.5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 75 |
| Manufacturers and suppliers of equipment | 25 | 75 | 100 | 150 | 100 | 450 |
findings
The CNSE nanocluster creation mechanism is quite traditional for American high-tech clusters - a large state university (SUNY) forms a specialized research center (CNSE), which in turn begins to attract leading industrial companies with its developments. An important role is played by the assistance of regional authorities - initially the support of the New York state government went directly through various forms of strategic development of "its" university, and then through tax breaks, financing infrastructure projects and targeted grants to industrial companies.
The main participants of the SUNY-Albany nanocluster:
Due to the unique scale of financial and human resources that the state of New York can attract due to its geographic and economic position, the applicability of the model of nanotechnological development of New York is limited at the level of other states of the USA and small territorial units of other states. However, the basic principles of this model could be successfully used to solve similar problems at a broader regional and national level, including in Russia.
Based on open sources and official websites of the organizations mentioned
[1] Best Practices in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives.Ed. Ch.W.Wessne. Washington DC 2013
[2] “SEMATECH Boss Touts NanoCollege Research,” The Times Union May 20, 2008.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/396495/
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