Negotiations between the consortium and the university began June 18, and the two sides expect to sign the agreement by the end of September, says Anne Englander, the consortium's director of communications. The agreement, which will cover a five-year period, is the culmination of discussions begun last year between New York Governor George Pataki and Robert Helms, CEO of International Sematech.

The partners announced the plans simultaneously in New York and Texas July 18 and held a follow-up news conference the next week at Semicon West in San Francisco. Helms emphasized that the alliance will enable Sematech to "significantly leverage" the consortium's resources and will broaden the scope of its research in next-generation lithography. "We'll be able to do critical work on EUV infrastructure faster and better as a result of this alliance."

The university is building two 300-mm cleanrooms as part of the overall construction plan. The first building will measure 120,000 sq ft and contain 20,000 sq ft of cleanroom. A 225,000-sq-ft second building will house a 40,000-sq-ft subfab. The construction costs for both total approximately $100 million. One of the facilities will be completed by the end of 2002; the other by the end of 2003.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sematech will oversee the technical program and provide staff members. SUNY-Albany will provide the facilities and funding leverage. Both partners will manage the program and the purchasing of tools and materials with the guidance of Sematech's management team.

Earlier this year, the state of New York and IBM pledged a total of $150 million for the state's Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics at SUNY-Albany. IBM is contributing $100 million and the state the remaining funds, which will be used to equip the 300-mm chip prototyping facility.