Mod3 gives Intel’s engineers additional clean room space to build the next generation of silicon process technologies
Mod3 is the $3bn expansion of the D1X development factory. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
US semiconductor major Intel has opened Mod3, a $3bn expansion of the company’s D1X development factory in Hillsboro, Oregon.
With Mod3, the company’s engineers will get an additional 270,000ft2 of clean room space to build the next generation of silicon process technologies.
Intel has renamed the nearly 500-acre campus that houses the D1X factory to Gordon Moore Park at Ronler Acres.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said: “This new factory space will bolster our ability to deliver the accelerated process roadmap required to support our bold IDM 2.0 strategy.
“Oregon is the longtime heart of our global semiconductor R&D, and I can think of no better way to honor Gordon Moore’s legacy than by bestowing his name on this campus, which, like him, has had such a tremendous role in advancing our industry.”
According to Intel, multiple logic process technologies are in different stages of the development cycle in the D1X factory, at any given time.
The company said that its technology development team develops the baseline manufacturing technology needed for bringing innovations into the physical world. Subsequently, new process technologies are identically transferred from this central development factory in Oregon to the global network of Intel’s high-volume manufacturing sites.
Following the transfer, the network of factories and the development factory work together to continue driving improvements in operations. This is said to allow for quick ramp of the operation, fast learning, as well as better quality control.
The Mod3 expansion takes the total investment of Intel in Oregon to over $52bn.
Intel executive vice president and technology development general manager Ann Kelleher said: “These groundbreaking process innovations all originated right here in Oregon. With the new expansion of our D1X factory, Oregon is well-positioned to deliver the next generation of leading-edge technologies.”
In February 2022, Intel announced plans to build a multibillion-euro worth chip factory in Magdeburg in eastern Germany. Last month, the company said that it will initially invest over €33bn in the European Union towards research and development (R&D) and manufacturing.