Lam Research establishes systems lab at Bengaluru center

Semiconductor firm Lam Research has inaugurated a new systems lab at its India Center for Engineering in Bengaluru. This lab will expand on the firm’s existing engineering center in the city and house a fully functional semiconductor manufacturing equipment development environment.

“As chipmaking becomes ever-more complex, there is a growing need for greater collaboration and global engagement of expertise, intellectual property and materials,” said Sesha Varadarajan, senior vice president at Lam’s Global Products Group. “The addition of a systems lab allows us to further capitalise on the quality of technical talent in India and build on the value we deliver at our India Center for Engineering.”

Lam engineers will be using the new facility to design, test, and validate semiconductor manufacturing processes and equipment with realistic test parameters. This will significantly shorten the design lifecycle, the company said in a statement. In line with the company’s earlier announcement of an initiative to expand the supply chain network in India, this lab will enable collaboration between customers and supply chain partners. Further, the lab will play a critical role in Lam’s R&D functions and foster workforce development. 

In April, Lam Research last month entered a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The partnership focuses on deploying Semiverse Solutions, a portfolio of software solutions from Lam Research, aimed at semiconductor modeling, design automation, and integration. This initiative is expected to bolster India's semiconductor manufacturing workforce. 

Just a little over a week in September, India has seen a couple major semiconductor announcements. Last week, the Union Cabinet approved Kaynes Semiconductor’s plans to set up an assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) unit in Sanand, Gujarat with an investment of ₹3,300 crore. Additionally, on Friday, Maharashtra government approved Adani Group-Tower Semiconductor’s semiconductor fabrication unit in Panvel, Mumbai with an investment of $10 billion.