The Institute for Matter and Systems (IMS) has completed a major expansion of its cleanroom facilities, which now totals more than 23,000 square feet – solidifying its position as the largest academic cleanroom in the Southeast. 

The expansion includes a newly constructed 2,000-square-foot ISO 6 cleanroom, designed to house an advanced packaging and 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI) facility.  

“As demand for cleanroom facilities continues to rise across academia and industry, this expansion strategically positions Georgia Tech to support national initiatives and advance global leadership in semiconductor packaging technologies,” said Gary Spinner, associate director of cleanroom and fabrication facilities at IMS. 

This state-of-the-art space will be equipped with next-generation processing and inspection capabilities that represent the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing technology. 

“The new facility, in conjunction with our existing Marcus facilities, will provide the campus community and our industry and government partners with the tools and capabilities to pursue revolutionary technologies in advanced packaging and 3D heterogeneous integration,” said Muhannad Bakir, Dan Fielder Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the 3D Systems Packaging Research Center (PRC). “These innovations will include developing radical advanced packaging and 3D stack architectures that seamlessly integrate electronics, photonics, power delivery, and thermal technologies.” 

The PRC will use the new facility for advanced packaging research supported by multiple national programs and industry partnerships.  

This robust infrastructure will support emerging applications in artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and advanced mm-wave and photonic communications systems. By enabling the dense integration of multiple specialized chips within substrates and chip stacks, the pursued advanced packaging research will deliver more scalable, powerful and energy efficient systems at lower cost and shorter design cycles.