IN Brief:
- Toolmakers and chipmakers are tightening collaboration as advanced-node process windows narrow.
- Applied’s EPIC Center is structured around side-by-side development of materials and equipment flows.
- The focus is on accelerating new process modules for future logic, memory, and high-density 3D integration.
Samsung Electronics has formally joined Applied Materials’ EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center in Silicon Valley, committing engineering resources to joint development programmes aimed at speeding the move from research to manufacturing-ready process flows.
Applied has framed EPIC as a $5bn investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D, built around the practical reality that leading-edge nodes now depend as much on materials engineering and tool interactions as they do on conventional scaling. The facility is designed to bring chipmakers and equipment engineers into the same development loop earlier, when process modules are still being defined and integration trade-offs can be resolved without multi-quarter iteration cycles.
Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials, said: “The global buildout of AI infrastructure is driving unprecedented demand for energy-efficient chips.” Applied is positioning EPIC as a way to keep pace with that demand by compressing development timelines and improving the handoff between lab demonstrations and fab-grade execution.
The stated technical agenda is centred on co-developing materials and process technologies for chips multiple nodes ahead of current production. Joint programmes are expected to target atomic-scale innovations for advanced patterning, etch, and deposition, with specific emphasis on future memory architectures and “extreme” 3D integration. In effect, EPIC is designed to tackle the messy part of scaling — the interactions between process steps that can make or break yield, variability, and cost.
Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, said: “Samsung and Applied Materials continue to build on our long-standing partnership to advance leading-edge semiconductor equipment technologies.” Samsung’s presence as a founding participant signals that the project is not intended as a generic research showcase, but as a development environment aligned to real manufacturing roadmaps.
Applied says the EPIC Center includes more than 180,000 square feet of cleanroom space for collaborative R&D, with operations planned for spring 2026. The company has contrasted that approach with traditional, serial development cycles that can stretch to a decade or more, arguing that parallel development and faster cycles of learning can pull forward commercialisation by several years.
Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, said: “Parallel development of key steps throughout the entire process flow is critical to drive device performance, yield and cost.” For engineers watching the tooling landscape, EPIC is another marker that next-generation nodes will be defined by integrated process ecosystems, not isolated tool wins.
