Applied Materials and TSMC Partner at the EPIC Center to Accelerate AI Scaling

Applied Materials, Inc. and TSMC began an innovation partnership at Applied’s EPIC Center in Silicon Valley to develop materials, equipment and process technologies aimed at scaling next-generation semiconductor devices for AI.

The companies said they would work together on the EPIC Center engagement after more than 30 years of collaboration, with the stated goal of moving technologies from research to high-volume manufacturing. The partnership also ties to Applied’s $5 billion EPIC Center investment described in the release, which is expected to be operationally ready this year.

Under the effort, Applied and TSMC planned to co-innovate in materials engineering, equipment innovation, and process integration technologies. The release described focus areas including process technologies enabling continuous power, performance and area improvements; new materials and next-generation manufacturing equipment for precise formation of 3D transistor and interconnect structures; and advanced process integration approaches to improve yield, variability control and reliability as devices move toward vertically stacked and highly scaled architectures.

Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials, said, “Applied and TSMC share a long history of deep collaboration built on trust and a shared commitment to advancing innovation at the leading edge of semiconductor technology,” said Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials. “By bringing our teams together at the EPIC Center, we are strengthening that partnership and accelerating the development of technologies to address the unprecedented complexity driving the chipmaking roadmap.” Dr. Y.J. Mii of TSMC said, “As semiconductor device architectures evolve with each new generation, the demands on materials engineering and process integration continue to increase,” said Dr. Y.J. Mii, Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at TSMC. “Meeting the challenges of AI at a global scale requires industry-wide collaboration. Applied Materials’ EPIC Center provides an ideal environment to accelerate equipment and process readiness for next-generation technologies.” Dr. Prabu Raja said, “Advancing leading foundry technologies calls for a new model for collaboration and innovation,” said Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials. “As a founding partner of the EPIC Center, TSMC gains earlier access to Applied’s innovation teams and next-generation equipment, helping accelerate the path from technology development to high-volume manufacturing.” The release also included forward-looking statements about the EPIC Center plans and future development of materials and technologies.