Applied Materials just welcomed SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions as the newest innovation partner at its EPIC Center.
This collaboration teams up SCREEN SPE’s wafer cleaning expertise with Applied’s materials engineering leadership to develop co-optimized process solutions for the world’s most advanced chips.
As semiconductor devices get more complex, keeping wafer surfaces perfectly clean has become critical for yield, performance, and reliability at the most advanced process nodes. Any defects that slip in during deposition, etch, or materials modification steps need to be addressed with incredible precision.
That’s why co-optimized cleaning solutions are now essential for developing next-generation materials engineering technologies.
When you combine Applied’s deep process expertise in deposition, dry etch, and materials modification with SCREEN SPE’s industry-leading cleaning, wet etch, and surface preparation capabilities, the result is co-optimized, end-to-end process solutions. These help chipmakers hit higher yields and get next-generation devices to production faster.
This partnership builds on an existing collaborative relationship that includes joint process development at Applied’s Materials Engineering Technology Accelerator (META) Center in Albany, New York.
There, SCREEN Semiconductor SPE’s single-wafer cleaning systems support pre- and post-process cleaning optimization across film formation, etch, and ion implantation workflows.
The new EPIC Center collaboration takes this relationship to a whole new level, letting engineering teams work side-by-side on a broader range of next-generation process challenges with faster learning cycles and more direct integration into Applied’s R&D programs.
Applied’s new EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center in Silicon Valley represents the largest-ever U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D.
The 180,000+ square foot facility on Applied’s Silicon Valley campus was built from the ground up to dramatically cut the time it takes to commercialize breakthrough technologies compressing the journey from early-stage research to full-scale manufacturing by as much as half.
The EPIC Center serves as a collaborative hub where leading chipmakers, equipment and materials suppliers, and research institutions work alongside Applied’s teams to accelerate next-generation semiconductor development. The facility is on track to become operational in 2026.
Leadership Comments
“The EPIC Center is designed to dramatically accelerate the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor technologies by co-locating and co-innovating with customers and partners across the entire semiconductor ecosystem,” said Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials. “SCREEN SPE’s wet etch and surface preparation capabilities are deeply intertwined with virtually every process step in chip manufacturing. By bringing our technologies together at the EPIC Center, we can develop co-optimized process solutions that address the increasingly complex surface engineering challenges our customers face as they push to the next technology frontier.”
“SCREEN SPE and Applied Materials share a long history of technical collaboration, and we are proud to deepen that partnership at Applied’s new EPIC Center in Silicon Valley,” said Akihiko Okamoto, President of SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd. “As device structures become more intricate and process windows narrow, the interface between wet etch and cleaning technology and adjacent process steps has never been more important. The deployment of our cleaning, wet etch and surface preparation technologies at Applied’s EPIC Center enables the evaluation of process-optimized solutions across the full process flow, supporting higher performance and greater reliability for our customers’ most advanced devices.”
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