Sustainable Product Innovation

We’re fueling sustainable product innovation by:

• Investing significantly in R&D to improve efficiency and reduce emissions
• Collaborating closely with customers, universities, and other stakeholders
• Supporting programs and initiatives designed to inspire experimentation and collaboration
• Collecting baseline data on our products’ environmental impact and designing with the planet in mind
• Investing in product refurbishment and reuse programs
• Living our Core Values of agility, teamwork, and innovation & continuous improvement

Product efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand

At Lam, we’re proving that it’s possible to maximize productivity while minimizing the use of raw materials, energy, and space. We’re optimizing our products and processes to be smarter and more efficient, in line with our company and customers’ business and sustainability goals.

These initiatives are critical to our net zero journey, as the largest portion of Lam’s emissions are generated through product use. Beyond building value for our customers through long-lasting, efficient product solutions, we’re engaging them to set and pursue science-based targets. Following are the steps we’re taking to advance our path to net zero while giving our company and customers a competitive edge:
 

Measuring the carbon footprint and energy consumption of our tools

We’re using Equipment Intelligence sensors to establish baseline data for our products’ energy usage and GHG footprint. This will help us track and measure our progress as we continue to optimize our processes and tools.
 

Driving energy reductions

Through a two-pronged approach, we’re identifying new ways to reduce product-based energy consumption. We do this by focusing on product improvements that reduce the amount of energy consumed while making each wafer, and by building equipment with more energy-efficient heaters, radio frequency power sources, and other components that enable pure energy savings.
 

Incorporating Design for Environment (DfE) principles

DfE principles guide us to develop products with their full lifecycle in mind. In doing so, we’re finding ways to reduce our products’ environmental impact while maintaining or improving their quality and value.
 

Creating products that go further

Lam provides high-quality, low-defect consumable, and nonconsumable spare parts designed to increase circularity while balancing performance, availability, and cost. Our spares offerings leverage services including re-cleaning, repair, refurbishment, and re-coating. This enables the reuse of electrostatic chucks, radio frequency (RF) hardware, showerheads, and other high-value spare parts. By reusing these parts, we build added value into our products and reduce the environmental impacts of manufacturing new tools.

Our focus on product quality and safety is fundamental to everything we do. With oversight from our cross-functional Quality Leadership team, Lam’s product safety engineers ensure the products and services we provide are safe for their intended use and in compliance with market regulations and standards. We take a systematic approach to continuously improve our products and quickly address any adjustments that need to be made. Lam is also certified under ISO 9001, an international standard that provides a framework for an effective quality management system.

Preventing, reporting, and addressing product safety concerns
As part of our product release process, all new products undergo safety certification testing. We document the results in a product safety report, commonly known as a SEMI S2. Our Logistics team provides safety data sheets for materials such as cleaning fluids and lubricants. Customers can enter into service agreements with Lam to ensure proper product maintenance, and we provide customer training on the safe use of our products, typically over the span of a week-long course.

When issues related to product safety or performance arise, we notify our customer base. We also have systems in place that allow our field-service personnel and customers to report safety issues to Lam. Our Product Safety team assesses these issues to verify the safety concern. If the issue is product-related, they will typically generate a safety problem report to address it. If the issue is behavioral, they will address the matter at the local level.

Promoting safety best practices on a larger scale
We further advance product safety best practices in our industry through collaboration with customers and industry peers. For instance, Lam helps lead the SEMI Equipment Suppliers group to address new product regulations impacting the industry. For more than two decades, Lam has worked with stakeholders to develop, implement, and continually improve the SEMI Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment. These standards are broadly used across the semiconductor industry and other industries to minimize hazards related to equipment, facilities, and work environments.

Together, we can realize new opportunities in semiconductor innovation. Through our Tech Vision, we engage many of the brightest minds in our industry to push the boundaries of what’s possible and realize new opportunities for what the future of semiconductor innovation can bring. From collaborating with leading universities and researchers, to hosting and sponsoring industry events, we invest in opportunities to celebrate big ideas and inspire new discoveries.

Our Tech Vision has two components, both of which support our goal to build an innovative workforce and push technology forward:

• Educational opportunities and events that embolden our technological community to share knowledge, collaborate, and spark new ideas
• Internal and open innovation programs that leverage external collaborations, enabling better solutions and faster cycles of learning

Through this approach, we continue to realize opportunities to solve complex challenges, build an innovative workforce, and push technology forward. Here are a few of the ways we’re bringing our Tech Vision to life: