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ALBANY - For months now, scientists and researchers on the campus of Albany NanoTech have been awaiting the arrival of a $400 million lithography system used to etch atomic-scale features onto silicon wafers.
That day has come.
On Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced that the first components of ASML's TWINSCAN EXE: 5200 have begun arriving in Albany for installation in NanoFab Reflection, the new $600 million building at Albany NanoTech built specifically to hold the EXE: 5200, the centerpiece semiconductor manufacturing equipment at what's being called the High NA EUV Lithography Center.
Hochul secured $1 billion for the lithography center, which will use the latest ASML lithography machine to etch computer chip designs onto silicon wafers at the atomic scale. Albany NanoTech is run by NY Creates, a state-affiliated non-profit. IBM and other corporate partners have pledged another $9 billion in research spending at the center.
"Today's milestone brings us one step closer to securing New York's future as the nation's home base for semiconductor innovation and world-class research and development," Hochul said in a statement. "By securing the most advanced chipmaking technology on the planet for NY Creates and the Albany NanoTech Complex, we are turning a promise into reality. New York state will be the preeminent hub for cutting-edge chip design for decades to come."
For decades, IBM and other tenants at Albany NanoTech have been utilizing ASML lithography machines for research and development on new computer chip designs. The EXE: 5200 is designed to make the smallest chip components to date needed for artificial intelligence applications. The technology is so advanced that the U.S. has banned the Dutch from exporting the machines to China. ASML is based in the Netherlands.
The ASML machine, which has been compared to a supernova light bulb held in a box, creates a plasma-based light source by shooting extreme ultraviolet lasers at a stream of molten tin droplets falling at a rate of 50,000 per second.
The EXE: 5200 is significantly larger than ASML's previous EUV scanners, which were often compared to the size of a bus. The new version weighs 200 tons - the same as two Airbus A320 airplanes - and is the size of a double-decker bus.
The ASML machine comes in 250 crates in 43 containers via five cargo planes and more than 20 air-ride semi-trucks, according to NY Creates.
The EXE: 5200 is expected to be put together and produce "first light" later this year. Full-scale research activities will begin in early 2027.
"The arrival of these first High NA EUV system components marks an exciting milestone for NY Creates, an achievement reflecting years of teamwork, collaboration, and investment by New York state," Dave Anderson, president and CEO of NY Creates, said in a statement. "We're proud to see this vision becoming a reality here in upstate New York."
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