Lam Research Receives 2025 SEMI Award for North America

Company Selected for Innovation in Cryogenic Etch Technology for 3D NAND Device Manufacturing that Enables the AI Era

Phoenix, Ariz. — October 7, 2025 — SEMI, the industry association serving the global semiconductor and electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, today announced Lam Research Corp. as the recipient of the 2025 SEMI Award for North America. Lam earned the recognition for its cryogenic etch technology, a breakthrough innovation that advances 3D NAND device manufacturing essential for today’s data-intensive AI applications. SEMI Americas presented the award to Lam during SEMICON® West, the premier microelectronics exhibition taking place in Phoenix, Arizona this week.

The rapid proliferation of generative and on-device AI is driving exponential demand for high-capacity, high-performance memory solutions. 3D NAND has become the standard architecture for flash memory, with companies working to stack hundreds of layers to boost density and performance. Achieving this requires advanced etching technologies that enable precise, deep, and repeatable etching, critical for supporting the industry’s roadmap toward 1,000-layer devices by 2030.

“The SEMI Award for North America has recognized outstanding innovations in the semiconductor industry for over 45 years,” said Joe Stockunas, president, SEMI Americas. 

“We are proud to recognize Lam, whose pioneering cryogenic etch technology not only showcases the company’s legacy of etch innovation, but also its leadership in 3D NAND dielectric etch technology to accelerate innovation that drives our industry forward.” 

Cryogenic etch technology operates at low temperatures, enabling the use of novel chemistries that significantly advance high aspect ratio etching. Lam’s third generation, production proven cryogenic etch technology, Lam Cryo™ 3.0 is a breakthrough innovation delivering enhanced etch rates, highly vertical profiles, and improved process control critical for fabricating complex 3D NAND structures and improving scalability. In addition to its performance benefits, Lam Cryo 3.0 offers 40% reduction in energy consumption per wafer, and up to a 90% reduction in emissions compared to conventional etch processes.*

"As the industry strives to make memory smaller and taller, Lam Cryo 3.0 technology overcomes key scaling obstacles to pave the way for 1,000-layer 3D NAND," said Tae Won Kim, corporate vice president of dielectric etch at Lam Research. "We proudly thank SEMI for this recognition, as well as our incredibly talented development teams around the world whose innovations across plasma reactors, processes and chemistry have enabled the production of millions of leading-edge wafers NAND wafers on Lam cryogenic etch technologies.”

The highest honor conferred by the SEMI Americas region, the SEMI Award was established in 1979 to recognize outstanding technical achievement and commendable contributions by individuals and teams in the areas of Semiconductor Materials, Wafer Fabrication, Assembly and Packaging, Process Control, Test and Inspection, Robotics and Automation, Quality Enhancement, and Process Integration.

Nominations are open to individuals or teams from industry and academia whose accomplishments have a broad commercial impact and technical significance for the semiconductor industry. SEMI invites 2026 SEMI Award for North America nominations from individuals or teams with North American-based SEMI member companies. See the list of past award recipients.

Learn more about SEMICON West 2025. SEMICON West 2026 will be held in October in San Francisco and will return to Phoenix in 2027, alternating years between the two locations.

* Source: Lam Research. Based on new etch chemistries possible with Lam Cryo 3.0. 90% reduction in Kg CO2 per wafer. Estimated emissions reduction calculated using IPPC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) guidelines for greenhouse gas inventories. The estimated reduction has not been independently verified.

About SEMI

SEMI® is the global industry association connecting over 3,000 member companies and 1.5 million professionals worldwide across the semiconductor and electronics design and manufacturing supply chain. We accelerate member collaboration on solutions to top industry challenges through Advocacy, Workforce Development, Sustainability, Supply Chain Management and other programs. Our SEMICON® expositions and events, technology communities, standards and market intelligence help advance our members’ business growth and innovations in design, devices, equipment, materials, services and software, enabling smarter, faster, more secure electronics. Visit www.semi.org, contact a regional office, and connect with SEMI on LinkedIn and X to learn more.