U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer of New York authored the $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act that is providing the U.S. Commerce Department with $5 billion to create a National Semiconductor Technology Center, or NSTC.
Schumer has said he had Albany NanoTech in mind to host the federal research center when he wrote the CHIPS Act, which also is funding tens of billions of dollars in grants and loan guarantees that have been offered to chip manufacturers to build new factories and expand existing ones on U.S. soil.
But other states and regions across the U.S. are also trying to win the NSTC, which will include three distinct research "hubs" that may be established in different locations.
Many of the states in competition with New York have established semiconductor sectors. That includes the Portland, Ore., area, where Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, has a large research and development operation.
The state of Oregon believes that Hillsboro, a suburb of Portland where Intel has its operations, is the perfect location for the NSTC.
Anca Matica, press secretary for Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, said Tuesday that the Silicon Forest, as the Oregon semiconductor cluster calls itself, has more than 40,000 employees, which is 15% of the entire U.S. semiconductor sector.
"The semiconductor industry is a priority industry for the Oregon economy," Matica said. "Not only are semiconductors Oregon's largest export, but Oregon is home to more than 200 semiconductor and semiconductor supply chain businesses."
In April, Kotek's office announced that Oregon was officially trying to win the NSTC in partnership with Intel, local universities and business groups, and the city of Hillsboro.
The mayor of Hillsboro, Steve Callaway, said in a news release issued by the governor that Hillsboro is "one of three places in the world — and the only one in the United States — producing leading edge research and development for semiconductor manufacturing."
The comment irked officials in New York who market Albany NanoTech as " North America's largest and most advanced semiconductor research and development facility."
Callaway's press office did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did spokespeople for NY CREATES or Empire State Development, the state agency that oversees the state's semiconductor industry strategy and incentive programs.
California, Illinois, Virginia, Texas, Arizona and other states have also announced their intentions to try and win the NSTC, although it is unclear which states have become finalists.
A decision could be made in the next couple of months.
Schumer said in a statement issued by his office for this story that the Commerce Department is "in the homestretch for deciding the location of major hubs" for the NSTC.
"I have fought for years to elevate Albany NanoTech on the national and global stage ..." Schumer said. "There is nowhere better suited to become the epicenter for America's semiconductor industry."
The CHIPS law's goal is to boost the manufacturing and research capabilities of the domestic chip industry to combat the growing threat of China as a political and economic foe to the U.S. A majority of advanced chips made in the world today are manufactured by Taiwan-based company TSMC.
China, of course, has been threatening to invade Taiwan over its independence, and any large scale military action on the island would likely choke off that important chip supply.
Schumer has for years promoted Albany NanoTech as an ideal location for the NSTC. Over the summer, the Biden administration revealed that the NSTC would be made up of three centers that could likely be sited at different locations across the U.S.
A chip design center and the headquarters would be put in one location together. There would also be an extreme ultraviolet lithography center and a prototyping and chip packaging center. All three centers will be awarded separately.
NY CREATES, the state-affiliated nonprofit that operates Albany NanoTech and other facilities upstate, has not made public its application for the NSTC or which centers it is seeking to host.
However, NY CREATES has already started construction of NanoFab Reflection, a nearly $500 million cleanroom facility that will house a new $10 billion EUV lithography center. New York state is contributing $1 billion toward the center, including purchase of a $400 million lithography machine made by the Dutch company ASML.
Earlier this year, Intel installed one of the new ASML lithography machines which uses a new type of EUV technology called high-numerical aperture, or high-NA EUV that can print the smallest possible features on the silicon wafers upon which chips are made.
While Intel is already installing its own ASML high-NA EUV machine at its Hillsboro research campus, the NSTC is targeting the opening of its EUV lithography center in 2026, by which time NY CREATES said it will have installed its new ASML machine in Albany.
Charles Wessner, a researcher who teaches global innovation policy at Georgetown University and who has studied the Capital Region's semiconductor industry, said he believes that Albany NanoTech would be an especially strong candidate for the NSTC because it is already set up as an open-source research center where different sometimes competing partners can work together at a neutral site.
Wessner said the state of New York's $1 billion contribution to the new EUV center helps a lot. He also pointed out recent agreements that NY CREATES has signed with government officials from South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. That shows how the Albany site has become a major chip research destination for chip companies across the world.
"They're all eager to work with the Albany NanoTech cluster," Wessner said in a phone interview. "That's a validation that could be unmatchable."
©2024 the Times Union, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
