January 31, 2005, Binghamton, NY and San Jose, CA--Binghamton University has been awarded a competitively bid contract from the U.S. Display Consortium (USDC) to establish and operate the Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM). The USDC will initially provide $10 million in equipment to establish the center, which will combine resources from the USDC, Binghamton University and other academic, government and industry partners to help speed microelectronics manufacturing research and development in a roll-to-roll (R2R) format.
To initiate a R2R prototype manufacturing line for the production of electronic components and products at the CAMM, the USDC will provide a Model 6600 lithography system from Azores Corp. (Wilmington, MA) and a Model Mark 80 vacuum thin-film deposition system from CHA (Fremont, CA), which will include two deposition sources being developed by the Kurt J. Lesker Co. (Clairton, PA). The USDC program is a collaborative effort of private industry and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (Adelphi, MD).
Directed by Bahgat Sammakia, professor of mechanical engineering and director of Binghamton University's Integrated Electronics Engineering Center and its Small Scale Systems Packaging Center, the CAMM will evaluate equipment and materials developed under the auspices of USDC, industry or its own R&D program that can be further developed in a fully-integrated manufacturing line. Equipment will be accessible to both the University community and private industry, which will participate in the CAMM through paid membership fees and funded research programs. The CAMM will also provide large-scale testing, whereby academic research groups can test their work for manufacturing applicability without the high costs and risks typically associated with such activities.