A $35.5 million state grant will help the University of Arizona expand a fabrication center advancing manufacturing technology and education in semiconductors, optics and quantum computing.
The Arizona Commerce Authority awarded the UA College of Engineering the funding to expand its Micro/Nano Fabrication Center, a cleanroom facility that supports manufacturing and research efforts involving semiconductors, computer chips, optical devices and quantum computing systems.
The funding will also support expansion of training and educational modules to train a workforce Arizona needs as it develops its semiconductor industry in line with expected future support from the federal CHIPS and Science Act, the Commerce Authority said.
Most of the grant will pay for upgrades and expansion of the fabrication center and installing state-of-the-art equipment, said the UA, which has committed an additional $4 million to upgrade the centerβs infrastructure.
The commerce authority grant is part of a $100 million commitment announced last year to increase semiconductor and microelectronics development in the state, including a $30 million commitment to a $248 million micro-fab center at Arizona State University announced with an industry partner in July.
The ACA grant will help make Arizona a national leader in micro- and nano-fabrication, said David W. Hahn, the Craig M. Berge Dean of the UA College of Engineering.
βThe benefits extend far beyond the University of Arizona to our many partner institutions and to the stateβs workforce, and they extend beyond todayβs technologies to the light-based and quantum circuits we will employ in the future,β Hahn said.
The UA also plans to create a digital twin of the fabrication center and its tools, yielding a virtual-reality simulation of the facility that workers can use to familiarize themselves with the workflows and equipment.
The Southwest Nano-Lab Alliance, a coalition of universities invested in promoting the regional semiconductor industry, will be an important collaborator on the expansion initiative, the UA said.
Along with the UA, the alliance includes ASU, Northern Arizona University, the University of Utah, the University of New Mexico and Rio Salado College in Tempe.
The UA says it will pass on $3 million of the state funding to Pima Community College and Central Arizona College to support expanded workforce training programs, including virtual-reality classrooms.
