Since its inception as the Integrated Circuits Laboratory more than a half-century ago, the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) has been the go-to resource for Stanford researchers and industry collaborators across Silicon Valley working on the next generation of semiconductor-based computer chips. The Stanford Nanofabrication Facility operates out of the Paul G. Allen Building, named for the late Microsoft co-founder. Today, a major renovation promises to keep the facility at the forefront of chip manufacturing through a new collaboration with and funding from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC).

 

The announcement comes on the wave of major developments in the chip industry. The August 2022 rollout of the CHIPS and Science Act capped the Biden administration’s $150 billion initiative to bolster the American semiconductor industry. In June 2024, American chip designer Nvidia (founded by Stanford Engineering alumnus Jensen Huang, EE MS ’92) became the world’s most valuable company, a measure of global demand. Alongside these developments, a team led by Stanford engineers were awarded a multimillion-dollar Department of Defense contract to enable the translation of next-generation chips from university laboratories to fabrication (lab-to-fab) at large scale in industry.

 

“Suddenly, hardware is king … again,” says Professor H.-S. Philip Wong.