The Department of Commerce and the National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technology, or Natcast, has revealed the possible location of the third CHIPS for America flagship research and development facility.
The department said Monday the Arizona State University Research Park in Tempe, Arizona is the potential site for the National Semiconductor Technology Center’s Prototyping and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program—a.k.a. NAPMP—Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility, known as PPF.
NAPMP Facility
The NAPMP facility, expected to be operational by 2028, is the world’s first manufacturing and advanced packaging research facility for 300mm front-end semiconductor. It is meant to drive economic growth, strengthen national security and boost the country’s semiconductor industry.
The PPF will help accelerate the transition from laboratory research to full-scale semiconductor manufacturing. It will also provide researchers with means to innovate and test new materials, devices and packaging technologies.
The new facility will benefit from being in Arizona where many front-end semiconductor manufacturing and packaging companies are based. As a research university, ASU will also boost R&D efforts supporting the semiconductor industry.
CHIPS of America invested in NAPMP mainly due to the shortage of 300mm semiconductor wafer prototyping facilities and limited access to specialized facilities and infrastructure, skilled workforce and financial support.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, said “Arizona has long been a hub for technological progress and this new facility will strengthen our domestic supply chain, drive advanced manufacturing breakthroughs and secure America’s leadership in this critical industry.”
Natcast CEO Deirdre Hanford added, “This facility will be a premier destination where researchers from industry, academia, startups and the broader semiconductor ecosystem will convene to explore, experiment and collaborate on the next generation of semiconductor and packaging technologies that will power the industries of the future.”