FEBRUARY 2025
Albany NanoTech's
Potential to Support the
National Semiconductor
Technoloy Center
By Charles Wessner and Thomas Howell
T
he CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS Act) was critically important for halting and reversing
the erosion of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing capability and ensuring the security of the
domestic chip supply chain. Through a combination of federal grants (up to $39 billion) and tax
incentives (in excess of $46 billion), the CHIPS Act has stimulated billions of dollars in private sector
investments into U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing.
The CHIPS Act established the National Semiconductor Technoloy Center (NSTC), an
industry-government-academic collaboration meant to drive advanced semiconductor research,
development, and workforce training. In July 2024, the Department of Commerce and the
recently created National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor Technoloy (Natcast), the
nonprot operator of the NSTC, began the site-selection processes to identify the rst three NSTC
agship facilities:
▪ An administrative and chip design center.
▪ An extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) lithography center will provide participants with the ability
to utilize the most advanced lithography tools to facilitate the development of chips at the
leading-edge of semiconductor technoloy, specically those needed to support articial
intelligence applications.
▪ A prototyping and advanced packaging piloting facility will combine state-of-the-art
300-millimeter (mm) manufacturing with chip prototyping and packaging, set to be
operational in 2028.
