GlobalFoundries on Tuesday said it would build its new technology development center (TDC) at its Fab 8 campus in Saratoga County, New York. The TDC will provide a collaborative space to develop end-to-end solutions covering the full spectrum of silicon technology, from new interconnect and packaging technologies that enable three-dimensional (3D) stacking of chips to leading-edge photomasks for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and everything in between.

“As the industry shifts from the PC era to a market focused on mobile devices, we have seen increasingly strong interest from customers in migrating to advanced nodes on an accelerated schedule. To help facilitate this migration, we are making significant investments in strengthening our technology leadership, including growing our workforce and adding new capabilities to make Fab 8 the hub of our global technology operations,” said Ajit Manocha , chief executive officer of GlobalFoundries.

The TDC will feature more than a half million square feet of flexible space to support a range of technology development and manufacturing activities, including cleanroom and laboratory space. Representing an investment of nearly $2 billion, the facility will increase the total capital investment for the Fab 8 campus to more than $8 billion. Construction of the TDC is planned to begin in early 2013 with completion targeted for late 2014.

The TDC will house a variety of semiconductor development and manufacturing spaces to support the transition to new technology nodes, as well as the development of innovative capabilities to deliver value to customers beyond the traditional approach of shrinking transistors. The overarching goal of the TDC is to provide a collaborative space for GlobalFoundries to develop end-to-end solutions covering the full spectrum of silicon technology, from new interconnect and packaging technologies that enable three-dimensional (3D) stacking of chips to leading-edge photomasks for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and everything in between.

“New York State’s continued support of the semiconductor industry has created a strong collaborative ecosystem and helped pave the way for this additional investment. The new TDC will help us bridge between the lab and the fab by taking research conducted with partners and further developing the technologies to make them ready for volume manufacturing,” said Mr. Manocha.

The Fab 8 campus is an ideal home for the Globalfoundries’s leading-edge technology development activities. The proximity of the IBM joint development alliance activities in East Fishkill and the college of nanoscale science and engineering (CNSE) at the university of Albany, combined with the growing presence of technology development personnel on the Fab 8 campus, have helped make New York’s “Tech Valley” a global center for next-generation technologies.

“This significant expansion demonstrates that the investments we have made in nanotechnology research across New York State are producing the intended return – the creation of high-paying jobs and generation of economic growth that is essential to rebuilding our state. New York has become the world's hub for advanced semiconductor research and now, the Technology Development Center will further help ensure the innovations developed in New York, in collaboration with our research institutions, are manufactured in New York,” said Andrew M. Cuomo, the governor of New York.

Since breaking ground on Fab 8 in 2009, GlobalFoundries has created approximately 2000 new direct jobs and that number is expected to grow by another 1000 employees for a total of about 3000 new jobs by the end of 2014. 

Tags: Globalfoundries, Semiconductor, 14nm, 20nm, 28nm, 32nm, 300mm, EUV, 450mm