The Biden administration said Tuesday, local time, that it will allocate up to $1.6 billion for the development of new technologies for packaging computer chips, according to a new statement from the U.S. Department of Commerce, an important step in the U.S. effort to stay ahead of China in making the components needed for applications such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The proposed funding for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Initiative is part of the $52 billion in authorized funding for the Chip and Science Act of 2022 and focuses on supporting companies to innovate in the area of new technologies for chip packaging, said Laurie E. Locascio, Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
As the industry knows, packaging is an important part of the chip industry. In the semiconductor packaging process, the United States relies on Asia to a higher degree. It is understood that chip packaging is mainly in China and Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and other places.
IPC cited U.S. Department of Defense data predicted that the United States only accounted for about 3% of the market share of advanced chip packaging. Long-term dependence on packaging in Asia limits the development of the U.S. semiconductor industry, but also poses a potential threat to national economic security.
In order to change this situation, the Biden administration proposed the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), aimed at large-scale investment in research and development to establish a leading domestic semiconductor advanced packaging capabilities. The program will attract broad participation of industry and academia, and jointly promote the innovation and application of advanced packaging technology.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program will invest up to $1.6 billion in innovation funding in five R&D areas. It is expected that each company eligible for R & D project grant applications from the total amount of up to $150 million in grants.
Five R&D areas covered by the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program:
- Equipment, Tools, Processes and Process Integration;
- Power delivery and thermal management;
- Connector technologies, including photonics and radio frequency (RF);
- Chiplet ecosystems;
- Co-design/electronic design automation (EDA).
In addition to the R&D area, funding opportunities are expected to include prototyping opportunities.
It is a well-known fact that much of the U.S. federal government’s subsidy money goes to the early stages of manufacturing, as chips produced in new U.S. factories may be shipped to Asia for packaging, which does little to reduce dependence on foreign companies.
In recent years, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, big data and other emerging technologies, the performance requirements for semiconductor chips are getting higher and higher. And advanced packaging technology is the key link to improve chip performance. By stacking multiple chips side-by-side or on top of each other, advanced packaging technology can significantly improve computing performance, reduce power consumption, and meet the growing demand for computing.
Today, a number of companies, including Intel, SK Hynix, Amgen and Samsung Electronics, are investing in the construction of packaging plants in the United States.
It is worth mentioning that Tokyo-based Resonac announced Monday that it will set up a semiconductor packaging alliance with nine other Japanese US-JOINT. the organization will unite into a common investment in California to set up an alliance base of activities, clean room construction and equipment installation will begin this year, the goal is to start operations in 2025.
President Biden has made it clear that we need a vibrant domestic semiconductor ecosystem in the U.S., and advanced packaging is an important part of that,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Now, as a result of the Biden Administration’s commitment to invest in the United States, the country will have a wide range of advanced packaging options and breakthroughs in new packaging technologies across the country. 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 U.S. and making our country a leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.”
