In a ceremony on Aug. 26, 2026, at its research and development center in Tualatin, Ore., Lam Research Corp. commemorated the start of construction on its new $620 million lab, part of a more than $3 billion planned investment in its global lab network over the next five years to accelerate breakthroughs for the creation of advanced AI chips.
Located in the Silicon Forest, in proximity to key customers, the new 120,000-sq.-ft. facility is expected to increase cleanroom lab space at the Lam Tualatin R&D center by more than 50 percent, enabling expanded experimentation and accelerated solution development.
Mortenson is the project contractor.
Lam said it plans to make the new facility one of its most advanced labs in the world, increasing capacity and capabilities for side-by-side innovation with customers and compressing product development cycles across its global lab network.
“Delivering next-generation semiconductors at the speed of AI requires relentless innovation and a strategic focus on the technology breakthroughs that matter most to our customers,” Chief Operating Officer Sesha Varadarajan said. “Our new advanced Oregon lab is expected to deepen our specialized capabilities and add tens of thousands of square feet of valuable cleanroom space, enabling even closer collaboration with customers while strengthening the expertise and reach of our global lab network.”
The company said the new Oregon lab will build on its strengths as a leader in atomic-scale semiconductor manufacturing, adding specialized capabilities to support advanced deposition and etch process development, materials science, and hardware validation.
Just like in Lam's existing labs, customers can work closely on site in the new facility with Lam engineers through each phase of product development, from idea to deployment in their labs.
The lab also will join Lam's integrated network of specialized labs around the world, which operate together to drive innovation 24/7, in parallel and at scale.
Projected to open in 2028, the lab is part of a planned multi-building expansion at Lam's Tualatin campus.
According to a third-party assessment, over the three-year construction period, the project is expected to create approximately 900 jobs and $500 million in economic output.
Once completed, the expansion is expected to represent the company's biggest investment in Oregon to date, with a projected economic impact that includes creating more than 400 new Lam jobs and bolstering the number of jobs that Lam supports statewide to more than 11,000.
In addition, the completed expansion is projected to increase Lam's annual economic contribution in Oregon to more than $1.8 billion.
