EMD Electronics invested in advanced 300mm tooling and enhancing its capabilities in Flowable Chemical Vapor Deposition (FCVD) technology at its Tempe R&D lab in Arizona. This strengthens the company’s dielectrics platform within the Thin Films business, aiming to meet the increasing gap-filling demands in logic, memory and packaging sectors for their customers and partners.
For EMD Electronics, the investment is about more than just keeping pace — it’s about setting the standard. “With this investment, EMD Electronics is proud to be the only materials company in the industry offering a full spectrum of process technologies, including Spin-On Dielectrics (SOD), Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), and now FCVD,” says Surésh Rajaraman, EVP and head of the Thin Film Business Unit.
FCVD might not be a household term, but its impact is everywhere. The process deposits a dielectric film in a liquid-like state, allowing it to flow into microscopic gaps on a semiconductor wafer. The result? More reliable chips with fewer defects — critical as devices shrink and processing power grows.
For consumers, this means faster processors, better memory storage and longer battery life. This results in fewer system crashes, better performance and improved AI-powered applications like voice assistants and real-time translation.
Having next-generation deposition technology available domestically reduces reliance on overseas suppliers, strengthening U.S. semiconductor independence and supply chain resilience. It also expands opportunities for collaboration with universities and research institutions, training the next wave of engineers and pushing the boundaries of chip design.
From the chips in smartphones to the processors powering AI and autonomous vehicles, FCVD is helping shape the future of technology. And with this latest investment, Arizona is once again proving that the semiconductor industry doesn’t just run through the state — it thrives here.
