We’ve been following several stories on U.S. base expansion stories made possible by U.S. Chips Funding Awards. Here is an update on three of them.
NHanced Terminates Bloomington IND Expansion Plans
We recently discussed NHanced Semiconductors‘ plans for expansion in Morrisville NC, Bloomington IND and Odon IND.
This past week Founder and President Bob Patti told the Monroe County (Bloomington) Council that U.S. chips funding and private funding had fallen through for the Bloomington project, and so it was terminated.
Patti said that numerous federal funding sources, specifically the CHIPS and Science Act, did not come through. He also said the flood of federal dollars meant to prop up the semiconductor industry has caused a “market glut.” and private investors had responded by pulling back.
Patti said the company is still committed to operation in Indiana and pointed to its investment at the Westgate One campus in Odon. That facility, in collaboration with several partners, is currently being constructed inside the WestGate at Crane Technology Park. Patti said that the project is moving ahead with the U.S. chips funding already secured. Ground was broken on the Crane campus in November 2022. NHanced contributed to the total $236 MM investment to build and equip a 150,000-square-foot plant. Patti said Tuesday that production will begin at the beginning of next year.
Administration Announces Preliminary Terms with Absolics to Support Development of Glass Substrate Technology for Semiconductor Advanced Packaging
In the past, we have discussed the clandestine advanced packaging activity of Absolics, the US division of the Korean SKC company.
Recently the U.S. Department of Commerce and Absolics announced the signing of a memorandum of terms to provide up to $75 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act for Absolics.
The proposed CHIPS investment would support the construction of a 120,000 square-foot facility in Covington GA and the development of glass core substrate technology for use in semiconductor advanced packaging. This program started from an SKC collaboration with the Packaging Research Center at Georgia Tech.
Absolics glass substrates will be used as an advanced packaging technology to increase the performance of leading-edge chips for AI, high-performance computing, and data centers by reducing power consumption and system complexity. The glass substrates produced by Absolics enable smaller, more densely packed, and shorter-length connections resulting in faster and more energy efficient computing.
Currently, the advanced packaging substrates market is concentrated in Asia, and, because of this proposed CHIPS investment, U.S.-based companies would have an expanded domestic supply of glass substrates for advanced packaging.
Absolics will continue its R&D work with Georgia Tech, while also collaborating on the DoD‘s Rf SHIP program. Absolics also announced a partnership with Georgia Piedmont Technical College to provide work-ready education and hands-on skill training.
If you’re looking to understand exactly what technology Absolics is bringing to bear, IFTLE suggests you take a look at USP 10,903,157 B2.
The technology is basically described in Figure 1 where (22) is the glass core layer; (23) are core vias; with top and bottom RDL layers (conducting features, contact pads and insulating films). Design details of the developing commercial products for the SHIPS Rf program and/or Absolics’ non-defense commercial partners have not yet been made public.
Intel to get $3.5B from CHIPS Act to Make Chips for Military
We are hearing from Tom’s Hardware that Intel will get $3.5 billion over three years to create a “secure enclave” facility that would exclusively produce high-sensitivity microchips for the U.S. military.
The bill reportedly pulls the money from the $39 billion allocated for manufacturing grants by the 2022 CHIPS Act.
Intel Foundry reportedly has confirmed that the company had signed a major — $1B foundry contract with the U.S. Government and Department of Defense. Under the U.S. government’s RAMP-C initiative, many industry players, including IBM, Microsoft, and Nvidia, are developing chips for the U.S. military.
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