Tempe, Ariz.-based Honeywell Electronic Materials announced today it will expand its research and development center in Spokane, Wash., which is dedicated to developing critical advanced packaging materials for semiconductor manufacturers, including thermal management (dissipating heat produced by the chip), electrical interconnect to the end-use device and burn-in materials (used to test the chip's performance). Honeywell said it will invest more than $1 million by the end of 2007, adding approximately 85 new pieces of equipment that allow for expanded and enhanced thermal interface material mixing and characterization, analytical and application testing, thermal and reliability testing, and failure analysis. The expansion will also include a metrology lab for replicating customer manufacturing obstacles and testing for solutions. "Honeywell is committed to developing next-generation materials that help semiconductor manufacturers manage the tremendous heat put off by advanced microchips," said Rebecca Liebert, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Electronic Materials. "Overcoming this challenge is crucial to allowing manufacturers to make chips ever more powerful and smaller." The heat flux of today's chips is similar to that experienced by the tiles of the space shuttle upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and can reduce the chip's lifespan and performance in end-use devices such as desktop computers, laptops, phones and PDAs.