NORDTECH Funds Six Advanced Tools at UAlbany Innovation Lab

 Instruments to Help Researchers Test and Analyze New Microchip Designs   

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 1, 2025) — Six new high-tech tools for microchip engineering, measurement, and testing are being installed at the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE) Innovation Lab thanks to $7.4 million in funding that resulted from the U.S. CHIPS & Science Act.

The tools were funded by the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH), which is part of U.S. Department of Defense’s Microelectronics Commons, a network of regional R&D hubs created to maintain the U.S. competitive edge in key fields related to semiconductors and microchip design.

The University at Albany, NY CREATES, IBM, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University are the five founding members of NORDTECH. The Innovation Lab, led by UAlbany’s Department of Nanoscale Science & Engineering, is located at the NY CREATES Albany NanoTech Complex.

The new tools will assist CNSE researchers, students and NORDTECH’s research partners in many aspects of microchip design and prototyping, including lithography, the process used to create the intricate patterns needed to precisely build each atomically thin layer of a chip.

One of the new systems will use a combination of electron and ion beams to precisely cut and then measure newly fabricated nanoscale devices—a process known as metrology, which is critical for evaluating materials and validating new designs.

“These major equipment investments in our Innovation Lab are essential to supporting our mission of education and workforce development at UAlbany,” said Nathaniel Cady, CNSE’s associate dean for research and a member of NORDTECH’s governing committee. “Our national efforts to stimulate U.S. chip manufacturing and research require a knowledgeable, well-trained workforce. Expanding our fabrication and testing capabilities with these advanced new instruments gives us the tools we need for education, training, and groundbreaking R&D.”

Collectively, the tools are critical to NORDTECH’s ability to transition technologies from the early phases of discovery and proof of concept, all the way to prototyping and testing. This lab-to-fab process is the primary goal of the Microelectronics Commons and the NORDTECH hub. Through NORDTECH’s Lab-to-Fab Innovation Fast Track (LIFT) Program, NORDTECH members can propose new wafer and chip processing ideas to pilot in NORDTECH’s core fabrication facilities, including CNSE’s Innovation Lab.

“NORDTECH has the goal of enabling a robust lab-to-fab pipeline of microelectronics projects to support the reshoring of the chips-centered ecosystem to the U.S., and by investing in additional tools at our core member facilities, such as these at the University at Albany, this will provide greater capabilities to bridge technological gaps and enable impactful R&D by professors and students,” said NORDTECH Technical Director Dr. Nicholas Fahrenkopf.

The NORDTECH-funded tools include:

• Dual Beam SEM/FIB system manufactured by Thermo Fisher

• Rapid Thermal Annealing tool manufactured by Surface Science Integration

• Atomic Layer Etch system manufactured by Oxford Instruments

• Deep Reactive Ion Etch system manufactured by Oxford Instruments

• Maskless Lithography system manufactured by Heidelberg Instrument

• Physical Vapor Deposition system manufactured by KJ Lesker

Combined with two other new tools funded by UAlbany’s Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics(CATN2), the NORDTECH-funded instruments are part of nearly $10 million in upgrades planned or underway at the CNSE Innovation Lab.

The Innovation Lab is not just a research hub; it is a key part of CNSE’s workforce development for New York’s growing semiconductor sector, providing undergraduate and graduate students critical hands-on access to processes central to microelectronics design and production.

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About the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH):

NORDTECH is a regional coalition of public and private sector experts in the Microelectronics Commons region in and around New York State, established in September 2023 as part of the first major award from the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. NORDTECH has received more than $80M in funding to-date to grow hub operations and advance lab-to-fab technologies. NORDTECH’s five founding members who comprise the leadership team and governance committee of the hub include: the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY CREATES), the University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and IBM. The hub is supported by a diverse advisory board of participating organizations, including small- and medium-sized semiconductor manufacturers, universities, community colleges, and major corporations specializing in semiconductor design, fabrication, and production. Learn more at nordtechub.org.