ASU, Applied Materials establishing semiconductor research and development center in Tempe
Arizona State University and Applied Materials Inc. are establishing a new research, development and prototyping facility to bolster the Valley’s growing semiconductor industry.
ASU announced Tuesday it’s partnering with the Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor company to create the Materials-to-Fab Center, which will be housed in existing cleanroom space at MacroTechnology Works in ASU Research Park in Tempe. Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) is a global supplier of semiconductor manufacturing and display equipment.
ASU President Michael Crow said in a statement the university and Applied Materials already have a close partnership and the new Materials-to-Fab Center will take it to a new level.
“But what is more important than the partnership is what it will do for the industry and the country,” Crow said. “This is the beginning of a reconfiguration of the way to accelerate discovery and translational research outcomes in response to real world challenges and the development of next-generational processes, materials, equipment, and workforce.”
The facility will offer end-to-end chip capabilities — research, development, prototyping and fabrication — to support ideas generated at the university level and meet growing demand for workforce in the semiconductor industry.
The 10,000-square-foot facility will span three floors and provide students, faculty, startups, industry partners and other colleges in the state access to Applied Materials’ state-of-the-art 300 millimeter manufacturing equipment, said Sally Morton, executive vice president of Arizona State University’s Knowledge Enterprise.
“Generally, students and faculty would not have access to the state-of-the-art 300 millimeter types of equipment,” Morton said. “We very much want our students to be part of this ecosystem and to learn to use these tools so they are even more saleable when they get out on the market.”
“When I speak to companies and I say, ‘What is the thing you are most worried about?’ It’s workforce. It’s having people who are capable of working with this very state-of-the-art equipment,” Morton continued. “So it’s almost like we’re allowing our students to walk into a TSMC fab and really be part of it before they leave the university, and we’re really excited about having that capability for our students.”
Design of the Materials-to-Fab Center is underway. It is expected to be operational within two years, according to ASU.
“Applied envisions the center at ASU playing a key role in accelerating materials engineering innovations, commercializing academic research and strengthening the pipeline of future semiconductor industry talent,” Gary Dickerson, president and CEO of Applied Materials, said in a statement.
The Materials-to-Fab Center represents a more than $270 million investment, including $200 million from Applied Materials for equipment operation, maintenance, research and scholarship funding; $30 million from the Arizona Commerce Authority; $17 million from ASU and $25 million in Arizona New Economy Initiative funding and bonds.
Applied Materials creating scholarship funds
Applied Materials is launching an endowment fund to provide scholarships to first-generation and underrepresented minority students in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. In addition, the company is creating the Applied Materials Momentum Fund, which provides grants to women pursing undergraduate degrees in engineering at ASU.
“High-quality universities are one of America’s greatest advantages in the global competition for semiconductor manufacturing, research and development,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement. “What Applied Materials and Arizona State University are doing is smart, and the successful implementation of the Materials-to-Fab facility will establish an innovation and job creation engine for the semiconductor ecosystem in Arizona.”
Applied Materials in May announced plans to build the Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization Center in Silicon Valley. While the EPIC Center will be the core of a network of university hubs focused on materials and process innovation, the Materials-to-Fab Center at ASU Research Park will serve as Applied Materials’ Center of Excellence in materials deposition technology.
Valley semiconductor industry momentum builds
The Materials-to-Fab Center is among several recent semiconductor-related projects in the pipeline as Arizona establishes itself as a leader in the industry.
Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are both building huge projects that call for either expanding or building new fabrication facilities in the Valley.
Tokyo-based semiconductor logistics company Nippon Express U.S.A. announced last week it began operations in a new warehouse in Mesa, while Cactus Materials started production in two fabs in Tempe, the Business Journal previously reported.
In addition, SEMI Americas announced earlier this year it’s relocating SEMICON West to Phoenix for a five-year alternating rotation, beginning Oct. 7-9, 2025 at the Phoenix Convention Center.
“The [Materials-to-Fab] Center will accelerate the development, commercialization, and manufacturing of next-generation U.S. semiconductor-based technologies while bolstering the state’s infrastructure, workforce, and research capabilities,” Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, said in a statement. “We’re proud to play a leading role supporting this first-of-its-kind partnership between one of the world’s leading semiconductor companies and America’s most innovative university.”