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Last week, the Arizona Commerce Authority and the University of Arizona opened a $35.5 million facility expansion at the Nano Fabrication Center on campus.
The state hopes to add more than 25,000 new jobs in the semiconductor industry over the next few years, so university, government and industry leaders gathered at the Office of Research and Partnerships' Nano Fabrication Center semiconductor cleanroom for a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Tuesday.
Located in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, the cleanroom supports faculty research and industry collaboration on chip fabrication, optical devices and quantum computing systems.
The expansion brought a metrology bay and overhauled infrastructure. For example, the facility’s air is 10,000 times cleaner than outside air – essential for exacting protocols that ensure the purity, precision and reliability of chips.
Among the equipment is an ultrasensitive infrared-emission microscope, donated by the optics company IRLabs. which detects chip failures before they happen.
A dedicated bay houses chemical and mechanical polishing equipment to smooth silicon wafers. The university's planarization bay is among the first university cleanrooms to support 12-inch wafer polishing.
Additionally, the facility handles photolithography, etching, metrology and packaging.
"Semiconductors power nearly every part of modern life, from health care and transportation to clean energy, national security and artificial intelligence,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “For too long, much of this manufacturing capacity existed overseas. Arizona has stepped forward to change that.”
The Arizona Commerce Authority awarded funding in 2023 to expand the cleanroom from 2,800 to 6,800 square feet, equip it with ultramodern tools, and support a statewide workforce development program.
The ACA’s investment is part of a $100 million commitment announced last year to increase semiconductor and microelectronics development in the state. The investment will support technological development and further grow the skilled workforce to support advanced fabrication industries.
The Arizona Commerce Authority allocated $4.5 million of its original $35.5 million investment for workforce development that extends beyond campus.
The Southwest Nano-Lab Alliance – a coalition of the state’s three public universities, the University of Utah, the University of New Mexico and Rio Salado College – collaborates on workforce initiatives. Augmented reality teaching modules will be shared with regional partners, such as Pima Community College and Central Arizona College, via the SemiXperience platform. Additionally, semiconductor manufacturing courses, along with corresponding teaching resources, are available on the SemiSphere content-sharing platform.
K-12 programs are already bolstering the pipeline. The Chips and Wafers Camp, a high school summer camp developed with Chandler Unified School District, introduces high schoolers to the industry.
Additional cleanroom industry partners include Araca, Arizona Optical Metrology, BASF, Cactus Materials, Edgehog Advanced Technologies, GmbH, Intel, Leonardo, Micro-Hybrid Electronics, Norcon Technologies, TSMC, and Wolf Biotechnology.
