Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC), a university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, and the University of North Texas (UNT) announced the formation of a new research center that focuses on advanced plasma processes and insulators used in manufacturing semiconductor chips. Jointly funded by SRC and UNT, with an annual budget for at least three years of approximately $850,000, the mission of the Center for Electronic Material Processing and Integration (CEMPI) is to ensure semiconductor devices continue to increase in performance while growing smaller in size. A team of 12 researchers from UNT, the University of Maryland, the University of California at Berkeley, Rensselaer Polytechnic University, Pennsylvania State University, Columbia University, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Michigan and Arizona State University, will collaborate as part of the center. It will be led by Dr. Jeffry Kelber, a UNT professor of chemistry. It will officially begin operations April 1. Plans to build a clean room and nanofabrication facility at UNT are under way, and the additions will augment the university’s existing materials characterization and analysis resources. Depending upon future funding, the center could expand its research to additional advanced semiconductor topics, including three-dimensional TSV etching, MEMs and packaging. For more information, visit: www.src.org