Intel Corp. could be about to break ground on an enormous extension of its D1X research and manufacturing facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, paving the way for mass production of its next-generation seven-nanometer computer chips.

A report Monday from The Oregonian cited anonymous sources as saying that construction on the extension will begin by the summer. It comes after Intel said in December it would soon build new manufacturing facilities in Oregon, Ireland and Israel.

“Having additional fab space at-the-ready will help us respond more quickly to upticks in the market and enables us to reduce our time to increase supply by up to roughly 60 percent,” Intel Vice President Ann Kelleher, manager of its manufacturing operations, said in a blog post on Monday.

While Intel’s administrative headquarters are located in Silicon Valley, D1X is the company’s main research center where it designs each new generation of its computer chip technology.

Intel is currently trying to perfect a new manufacturing process called extreme ultraviolet lithography, which would enable microchips to be etched with circuit lines smaller than 0.1 micron in width, making them 100 times more powerful than today’s chips. Memory chips built using the technique would be able to store 1,000 times more information than they can today.

Intel therefore needs to expand its manufacturing capabilities in order to implement the new process, which will be used to build its new class of 7nm chips. The company has previously said it plans to begin work on its 7nm process as soon as its overcome problems delaying its 10nm chips, which are due to launch later this year.

The decision to fund a new multibillion-dollar fab would be unusual for a company that lacks a chief executive officer to affirm such a decision. Intel’s last CEO, Brian Krzanich, left the company last summer following a “past consensual relationship with an Intel employee” in violation of corporate policy. The company has yet to name a successor.

However, Intel is under pressure to move faster since rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has already perfected its own 7nm process, announcing its first Radeon VII chip at the CES consumer electronics show earlier this month.

It’s also rumored that Intel could announce a new CEO Thursday when it posts its quarterly financial results.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that Intel’s decision to expand its Oregon facility isn’t such a surprise given its existing presence there. “With an expected opening date in about two years it puts Intel behind the competition, assuming all dates hold,” Mueller said. “But as with all processor manufacturing when moving to new platforms, surprise and delays are to be expected. Still, it’s good to see the CEO-less Intel making key decisions about its future.”

Construction of the new extension would likely take about 18 months to complete, so the earliest opening date would be mid-2021.

Photo: JiahuiH/Flickr