ARCNL opened by Sander Dekker and Martin van den Brink
On Tuesday 11 November 2014, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, Sander Dekker, and Martin van den Brink, President and CTO of ASML, opened the Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL) at the Amsterdam Science Park. With a push of the button Dekker and Van de Brink switched on a powerful laser that burned through a ribbon bearing the ARCNL logo. With this they gave the sign to two employees dressed in laboratory suits to open the doors of the new laboratory of ARCNL.
Prior to this opening ceremony, about 300 guests listened to representatives from all the parties involved in ARCNL. Theatre and film producer Jan van den Berg presented the programme and introduced the representatives. These speakers each showed from their own perspective why this special partnership between private (ASML) and public parties (FOM Foundation, NWO, the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam) is so important. For example, State Secretary Sander Dekker spoke about the exemplary function that the collaborating partners are fulfilling for future public-private partnerships at the interface of science and industry.
After the spectacular opening ceremony, the visitors could take a look in the new laboratories. Director Joost Frenken wanted them to experience the enthusiasm with which ARCNL is being built up.
The Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL) is a public-private partnership between FOM, the University of Amsterdam, VU University Amsterdam and ASML, the producer of lithography machines for the chip industry, with additional financial support from the municipality of Amsterdam and the province of North Holland. ARCNL carries out fundamental research in the area of nanolithography, especially for applications in the semiconductor industry. Initially the center will focus on physical and chemical processes vital for lithography with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light.