Arizona State University Research Park in Tempe will be the site of one of the nation’s three microchip research and development flagship facilities, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Natcast, a nonprofit entity of the Commerce Department, announced Monday.
The facility will have a formidable name: the CHIPS for America NSTC Prototyping and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility. It will be called PPF for short.
The facility will bridge the gap between research and semiconductor production, focusing on research, development and testing of new materials, devices and packaging, the department announced.
Natcast accepted a nonbinding letter of intent from the Arizona Commerce Authority and ASU. A final contract will be subject to additional due diligence and continued negotiations, the announcement said.
The facility will be housed in a new building and is projected to begin operations in 2028. The ASU Research Park is located near the northwest corner of Price and Warner roads in Tempe.
“A strong research and development ecosystem is essential to ensuring the United States remains at the forefront of semiconductor innovation,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “Arizona has long been a hub for technological progress, and this new facility will strengthen our domestic supply chain, drive advanced manufacturing breakthroughs, and secure America’s leadership in this critical industry.”
The facility is the third research and development flagship facility to be announced. The other two are in Albany, New York, and Sunnyvale, California, and were announced in late 2024.
The ASU Research Park facility will allow research and development opportunities that are not possible in a manufacturing site, like testing new materials and new device architectures, according to the announcement. It was billed as the world’s first 300mm front-end manufacturing and advanced packaging research facility.
Scaling new semiconductor technology has been an obstacle, with a lack of shared facilities, shared infrastructure and capital, according to the announcement.
“The PPF will play a critical role in advancing semiconductor innovation across the country,” Deirdre Hanford, Natcast CEO, said in a statement. “This facility will be a premier destination where researchers from industry, academia, startups, and the broader semiconductor ecosystem will convene to explore, experiment, and collaborate on the next generation of semiconductor and packaging technologies that will power the industries of the future.”
The facility will have at least one 300mm full-flow complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, which is a technology used in computer processors and other electric components, for use as a stable baseline for experiments, the announcement said.
The ASU Research Park facility will benefit from proximity to Arizona’s fast-growing semiconductor industry, with major manufacturers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel Corp. growing their presence in the state, along with advanced packaging facilities like Amkor Technology Inc.
Mark Kelly, other politicians backed Arizona’s pitch
In August, Arizona’s congressional delegation, led by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., sent a letter to Raimondo and Hanford, supporting Arizona’s proposal to host the facility in the state.
“Arizona has emerged as a leader in advanced chip manufacturing and advanced packaging technologies, making it the ideal location to host the co-located NSTC Prototyping and NAPMP Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility (the facility),” the letter said in part. “With more than 70 years of industry experience and one of the nation’s fastest growing workforces, Arizona has attracted projects across the semiconductor value chain, from leading edge manufacturing to materials suppliers and advanced packaging facilities, representing the end-to-end industry growth that’s crucial for supply chain resiliency.”
Kelly said he was grateful for the work ASU has done to be on the forefront of semiconductor innovation, and the work Arizona’s elected leaders and business community have done to grow the industry in the state.
“This groundbreaking effort will mean that researchers and startups won’t need to go to China or Europe to test out their cutting-edge prototype microchips—they’ll be able to do that right here in America,” Kelly said in a statement. “Creating this world-class prototyping and packaging facility was a priority of mine when negotiating the Chips and Science Act. The United States must lead the way in semiconductor research and development, and there’s nowhere more appropriate for it than Arizona. The most advanced microchips in the world that power everything from AI to quantum computing will now be able to be developed, tested, manufactured, and packaged in our state.”
CHIPS Act brings billions of dollars of investment to Arizona
Arizona’s semiconductor industry leaders have been major recipients of CHIPS and Science Act funding to support their growth.
In September, a technology-collaboration network, or hub, centered at ASU landed $29.6 million in federal grants to support chipmaking for national defense.
The ASU-centered Southwest Advanced Prototyping or SWAP Hub, and seven others around the nation, are designed to help meet the nation’s appetite for semiconductors while ensuring that the United States remains at the cutting edge in research.
In November, the federal government finalized an agreement to release $6.6 billion in funding to support TSMC’s development in Phoenix. TSMC is expected to begin commercial production in Phoenix this year.
Also in November, the department announced Intel would receive $7.87 billion in direct funding, with about half of that, $3.94 billion, going to projects in Arizona.
In December, the department announced Amkor would receive $407 million in CHIPS Act funding.
Reach the reporter at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @CorinaVanek.
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