Applied Materials unveils EPIC centre with investment expected to reach $5 billion
Applied Materials has unveiled its Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) semiconductor research centre in Sunnyvale, California, bringing chipmakers, equipment companies and university researchers into a shared process-development facility.
The 600,000-square-foot building contains nearly four acres of advanced cleanroom space. Applied says capital spending is expected to increase over time to approximately $5 billion as customer projects commence.
The centre is designed for parallel development of materials, manufacturing equipment and process technology. Applied's stated aim is to reduce the handoffs between foundational research, equipment development and process integration before technologies enter high-volume manufacturing.
Founding partners include TSMC, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Micron and SK hynix. Broadcom, Advantest, SCREEN, Kioxia and Besi are named as innovation partners, alongside research participation from Arizona State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stanford, UC Berkeley and UCLA Samueli.
