Planned Intel building could point to future Oregon factory expansion

Intel plans to construct a brand new, modestly sized manufacturing help constructing on its foremost Oregon manufacturing campus. The chipmaker says will allow new manufacturing applied sciences and future development at its Hillsboro analysis manufacturing facility, referred to as D1X.

“This deliberate constructing will help the present D1X operations and ensures we’re prepared for potential future growth and enabling new manufacturing course of know-how in help of Intel’s ongoing analysis and improvement and manufacturing actions in Oregon,” spokesperson Eleonora Akopyan wrote in an e mail.

Intel didn’t say how a lot the brand new constructing will price or how huge will probably be. Planning paperwork filed with Hillsboro recommend it’s about 50,000 sq. toes. That’s small relative to different buildings on the positioning campus – the third section of D1X, which Intel opened final yr, price $3 billion and is 270,000 sq. toes.

The entire campus – generally known as Gordon Moore Park at Ronler Acres – has 4.9 million sq. toes of buildings. It’s the place Intel creates every new era of its microprocessors.

Intel hasn’t set a timetable for future growth on the Hillsboro website, however CEO Pat Gelsinger has mentioned the corporate expects to construct a fourth section at D1X ultimately. It’s at present constructing new factories in Arizona and Ohio.

Intel didn’t specify what new applied sciences its deliberate constructing allows, however the firm is investing closely in a brand new era of producing know-how generally known as excessive ultraviolent lithography. EUV machines, made by a Dutch firm referred to as ASML, allow chipmakers to imprint smaller patterns onto silicon wafers, making a path to extra superior laptop chips.

EUV machines are enormous, price properly over $100 million apiece and require specialised help programs to run. It might be that Intel’s new constructing will allow extra EUV instruments or different new manufacturing programs.

Intel mentioned it plans to start out manufacturing on the brand new constructing, referred to as MSB2, later this yr, connecting it by an overhead walkway to D1X on the southwest facet of its campus close to Hillsboro Stadium.

— Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | 503-294-7699

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