Recently, the United States Department of Commerce announced a major investment plan to allocate up to $1.6 billion to promote research and development and innovation in advanced chip packaging technology.
According to the United States Department of Commerce, the funding will be part of the $52 billion authorized funding of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, focusing on supporting companies to innovate in the field of new chip packaging technologies. Laurie E. Locascio, Deputy Secretary of Commerce of United States and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said the program will focus on five key areas ·of R&D, including equipment, tools, processes and process integration; power delivery and thermal management; connector technologies (including photonics and RF); Chiplet ecosystem; and co-design/electronic design automation (EDA).
Locasio made the announcement at the annual industry conference in San Francisco, setting the stage for companies to begin applying for grants to fund R&D projects. The total amount of grants is expected to be up to $150 million per company, which will greatly incentivize companies to invest more resources in technology research and innovation.
The Biden administration's National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) aims to build leading domestic semiconductor advanced packaging capabilities through large-scale investment in research and development. The program will not only attract broad participation from industry and academia, but will also promote integrated R&D activities to support the construction of domestic semiconductor packaging capacity. "Our R&D efforts in advanced packaging will focus on high-demand applications such as high-performance computing and low-power electronics, both of which are necessary to achieve AI leadership," Locasio emphasized. ”
Figure: United States invests $1.6 billion in chip packaging (Source: Digwatch)
For a long time, United States has a high degree of dependence on foreign companies in the field of semiconductor packaging, especially on Chinese Taiwan, Korea and other places. The United States, citing data from the United States Department of Defense, estimates by industry group IPC account for only about 3% of the advanced chip packaging market. This dependence not only limits the development space of the United States semiconductor industry, but also poses a potential threat to national economic security. To change this, the Biden administration has decided to increase investment in advanced packaging technologies to reduce dependence on foreign companies and ensure the independence of the domestic semiconductor industry.
While actively seeking international cooperation and exchanges, the United States semiconductor industry is also accelerating the construction and upgrading of domestic factories. Intel, for example, has invested heavily in upgrading its factories in New Mexico and Arizona to develop advanced packaging technologies. In addition, TSMC, as the world's leading semiconductor manufacturing company, has also invested in the construction of an advanced chip factory in Arizona, United States, and plans to receive federal government subsidies for chip production.
With the rapid development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, the performance requirements for semiconductor chips are getting higher and higher. Advanced packaging technology is the key to improving chip performance. By placing multiple chips side-by-side or stacked on top of each other, advanced packaging technologies can dramatically improve computing performance and reduce power consumption to meet growing computing demands. Therefore, the United States investment is expected to promote the further development and innovation of global semiconductor packaging technology.
United States Commerce Secretary ·Gina Raimondo said, "President Biden has made clear that we need to build a vibrant domestic semiconductor ecosystem in United States, and advanced packaging is an important part of that. Now, thanks to the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to investing in United States, the United States will have a variety of advanced packaging options across the country and breakthroughs in new packaging technologies. This announcement is just the latest example of our commitment to investing in cutting-edge research and development, which is critical to creating high-quality jobs in the United States and making our country a leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. ”
