Tokyo Electron brings Albany Nanotech to next level with French scientist – Times Union

ALBANY - If Albany Nanotech is awarded the National Semiconductor Technology Center a $2 billion federal research center for computer chip manufacturing research envisioned by U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer it will be brilliant researchers like Christophe Vallee and companies like Tokyo Electron that will help New York beat out other states to land the highly coveted center.

Albany Nanotech is the most advanced publicly owned semiconductor manufacturing research facility in the United States and is considered a front-runner for the NSTC, funding for which is still being debated by Congress.

Schumer was in Albany this past Monday showing off Albany Nanotech to Don Graves, the deputy secretary for the U.S. Commerce Department, which would have the ultimate say on where the NSTC will be located.

Graves participated in a press conference with Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul after touring Albany Nanotech's clean rooms where companies like Tokyo Electron Ltd., also known as TEL, test cutting-edge machines, called "tools" in the industry, used in chip-making.

Graves came away impressed.

"What you have put together here in this city and this region is spectacular," he said.

One of the selling points of Albany Nanotech is the industry partnerships that take place on chip research - IBM, for instance, partners with Samsung on next-generation chips there to keep shrinking transistor sizes down to 2 nanometers - which is smaller than the diameter of a single strand of DNA.

Another unique strength of Albany Nanotech is that it is home to SUNY Polytechnic Institute and its College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which trains engineers and scientists to work in computer chip factories, or "fabs" as they are known.

The presence of SUNY Poly at Albany Nanotech is another feature that state officials believe will help land the NSTC because it brings both academia and workforce development to the companies that locate at the complex, a mixture that is unrivaled in the United States.

Ross Goodman, deputy director for program management at the New York StateCenter for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics, a state-funded agency located within SUNY Poly that helps tech companies move research to commercialization, says that the Albany Nanotech model provides "fertile ground" to companies looking to collaborate with both academics, students and even rival companies.

"It's a really successful model," Goodman said.

The model evolved in late 2020 when TEL announced that it was awarding SUNY Poly a $2.3 million, five-year grant to bring in Vallee as the first-ever TEL innovation scientist.

Vallee, a leading expert in plasma science, is in his second year in the program. He works on TEL's equipment and in SUNY Poly's labs, working with doctorate students who are also funded through the program, which also involves state funding.

Vallee is an expert in what is known as plasma etching that is used to form the layers of material deposited on silicon wafers to make individual computer chips.

"It's very complicated, and you have to do it over and over and over again," Vallee said of the plasma etching process, which is also used to do what is known as "selective deposition," meaning some of the material is only deposited on certain parts of the wafer instead of it being uniform. "It's a very complex process."

Vallee is working to advance the science of plasma etching and deposition - and it could benefit both TEL and SUNY Poly.

SUNY Poly officials said the arrangement with Vallee, who brought his family to the Capital Region from France for his five years at Albany Nanotech, is unique to the facility.

But it's a model that not only helps TEL build better plasma etch tools - it helps them train new scientists and engineers that can use them in chip fabs around the world.

TEL is excited to partner with SUNY Poly to advance fundamental research in the area of plasma etch and deposition, while also training the next generation of engineers and scientists to join the ranks of our vibrant and dynamic industry, Larry Smith, president of Tokyo Electron U.S. Holdings, said when TEL announced the hiring of Vallee.

Smith said TEL has hired several SUNY Poly students over the years, and that will likely accelerate as Vallee trains even more students in Albany.

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Tokyo Electron brings Albany Nanotech to next level with French scientist - Times Union