Overview
Located in the Innovation Corridor at the New Mexico site, the MESA complex contains Sandia's integrated materials research and the production facilities for microsystem technologies, as well as advanced nuclear weapons research, design and development functions. The facilities that make up MESA ultimately connect with all of Sandia's mission areas via microsystems research and applications.
The primary facilities included in MESA are:
- 858EF MESA MicroFab (East Facility)
- 858EL MESA MicroLab (East Lab)
- 858 North MESA Microelectronics Development Lab
- 858 South MESA Office and Light Lab
- 898 Pete V. Domenici National Security Innovation Center (originally identified as the MESA Weapon Integration Facility)
The complex also houses the Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed (QSCOUT). QSCOUT is a quantum computing testbed based on trapped ions; it is available to the research community as an open platform for a range of quantum computing applications.
The manufacturing portion of MESA, known as the MESAFab complex develops and maintains core semiconductor processing capabilities and capacity for building differentiating Microsystems products. The MESAFab complex houses two unique facilities: (1) a 16,400 square foot Class 1 SiliconFab for 8-inch silicon wafer processing and (2) a 16,640 square foot Class 10 and Class 100 MicroFab with an extensive microfabrication tool set for compound semiconductor material processing and silicon wafer post-processing.
The 400,000 square foot MESA complex was completed in 2007 after eight years of construction at a cost of $518 million. It was Sandia's largest construction project since the Labs' first permanent buildings were built in the 1940s.