May 20 (Reuters) - Lam Research ( LRCX ) has opened a

research lab in Salzburg, Austria, to advance a chip packaging

technology that promises to increase chip density and cut costs,

as the company looks to capitalize on surging AI demand for

processors.

The U.S. chipmaking tools supplier said on Wednesday that

the Salzburg facility will focus on panel-level packaging, which

replaces the semiconductor industry's traditional circular

silicon wafers with square panels.

Round wafers waste material at the curved edges where full

chips cannot be cut. Square panels can eliminate the dead space,

allowing chipmakers to produce more chips per surface at a lower

cost per unit - a crucial advantage as AI drives chip shortages.

The growing need for more complex and powerful chips has

fueled a surge in demand for wafer fabrication equipment, which

are sophisticated and expensive tools provided by companies

including Lam, Applied Materials ( AMAT ), Dutch firm ASML

and KLA Corp. ( KLAC )

Lam's customers include Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) and

the world's leading contract chip manufacturer, Taiwan

Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ( TSM )

The company said the new R&D site builds on the expertise of

Semsysco GmbH, a Salzburg chip equipment firm founded in 2012

and acquired by Lam Research ( LRCX ) in 2022.

The Salzburg facility is Lam's first panel-focused

wet-processing lab, which uses liquid chemicals to clean and

prepare semiconductor materials, the company said.

"This new campus, a state-of-the-art laboratory for

panel-level processing, seamlessly bridges the gap from research

and development to production," Salzburg Governor Karoline

Edtstadler said in a statement.