SEMATECH News

SEMATECH Celebrates 25 Years of Advancing Technology and Manufacturing Innovations and Collaboration

2012 Knowledge Series to Commemorate 25th Anniversary

ALBANY, NY (February 2, 2012) – This year SEMATECH, the international consortium of leading semiconductor device, equipment and materials manufacturers, observes its 25th anniversary and celebrates the pre-competitive collaboration that has been the foundation for many of the industry’s technology and manufacturing breakthroughs.

In the 25 years since it was founded, SEMATECH has evolved from a bold five-year experiment in U.S. industry/government cooperation to an international collaboration of the broader semiconductor community, including device makers, universities, governments, national laboratorie, and the entire industry supply chain.

“SEMATECH has changed dramatically since its inception – in the players in the industry, the technologies we’re addressing, and the partners we’re working with around the world. But what remains consistent is our unrelenting push for innovative solutions and the collaborative efforts to solve common challenges through leveraging resources and sharing risks,” said Dan Armbrust, SEMATECH’s president and CEO.

For over two decades, SEMATECH has helped to bring the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers together to share resources and solve their most pressing technical and manufacturing challenges.
Some of SEMATECH’s key accomplishments include the following:

  • Laying the groundwork for wafer size transitions
  • Establishing and maintaining the semiconductor industry roadmap
  • Building industry-wide consensus and developing infrastructure for a succession of next-generation lithography technologies, including EUV
  • Guiding the development of robust copper/low-k and 3D interconnect technologies
  • Receiving the prestigious Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for work in reducing perfluorocarbon (PFC) emissions
  • Establishing the Resist and Materials Development Center and the world’s first EUV Mask Blank Development Center at the College for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany
  • Facilitating breakthroughs in advanced device structures and materials, including high-k metal gate stacks and III-V materials
  • Launching the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC), a partnership between SEMATECH and CNSE, to enable the development of advanced PV-related manufacturing processes throughout the U.S.

Throughout 2012, SEMATECH will be commemorating its 25th anniversary through its lineup of technology-rich forums, the SEMATECH Knowledge Series (SKS), and its Annual SEMICON West Reception to be held July11 in San Francisco, CA. All events will be open to the public, with several accepting sponsorships.