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By that yard stick, all fabs should still be in California.
There is no semi infrastructure in OH but there is manufacturing. There are also people, lots of them if you include nearby states.
In principle, I do not see why it could not work long term. Even TSMC has run out of Taiwan labor...
Lots of good comments and insights. At the end of the day, DoD got what they wanted (the 10-7 rules). I do not think that they cared a whole lot about the new fabs (about any new fab in fact). There were big concerns about Chinese AI capabilities (and surveillance, quantum etc.) and the best way...
China's behavior was a predictable consequence of CHIPS and the 10-7 sanctions. All this equipment (if used) will destabilize the market for years to come. I worry about smaller legacy players that need to be profitable (Broadcom, On, GF).
Lot of words for very little. This location is the former Atmel site. Tripling the capacity? We will see.
#Barnsley: altitude has no bearing on manufacturing. Success is like everywhere else: water, power, workforce, enlightened management.
Saimali, in a "conventional" wafer, the transistors are made and wiring is added on top. in BP (B = backside), power lines are added on the back of the wafer so underneath the transistors. So in the end, there is wiring beneath on above the active areas.
There are in fact many puzzles! I do my transistors and add TSVs, just like I would in flip. I bond a sacrificial wafer (so i can go through CMP later on), grind back to expose my vias. I then go through another 10-12 steps to build BP (combination of PVD, plating, CMP, CVD and etch). I would...
Let me clarify my thinking. In a basic TSV, I am etching a deep hole and filling it with either copper or W. As far as I know, this step is done AFTER the transistors are created. I finish my wafer, grind it, flip it and contact from the backside.
In BP, I would somehow create an entire...
There are many threads about backside power but I am lost on a key point: when/how is the backside metal put in place?
Conventionally, a finished wafer would be ground from the backside to expose vias.
In BP, it seems to be that the power lines are laid down first and the transistors are...
I am not following the meaning of this thread. Fabs are already fully automated. Surely, no one is talking about automating construction. So what is left: maintenance, process, equipment engineering and yield. Some AI is indeed already in use to supplement process engineering but would anyone...
Arthur, semiconductor manufacturing is already 100% automated. Things breakdown, processes drifts so employees are always needed. This will not change in my lifetime. AI agents are used to do process control already but within human controlled guidelines (see tsmc). As to medical advances...
After all this time, someone in government thought this would send the right message. CHIPS had nothing to do with manufacturing and everything to do with DoD real or imaginary needs. BAE is the smallest of manufacturers. So tiny you never heard about them.
That as it may, the fact remains that the IC business is weak. We hear a lot about the cutting edge but anything above 10 nm is generally overstocked. Factories are not running hot and heavy. Yes, there is a lot of construction but stuff that is built is not fully booked. So in that way, JP...
I have never thought of GF Dresden as leading in any categories. Good yes, especially considering that it is a 200 mm retrofit.
Saw a related post on Linked in. When industry accepts/needs public money, they forfeit some control. If the Germany polity decides that they want a fab in Berlin...
Many good comments here. Fabs exist in a tension between wafer outs (the manufacturing side) and tool uptime (engineering or maintenance), with process and yield acting as kind of referees. Some unscheduled downs are accepted since they can lead to profitable outcomes (more wafers produced)...
For the rest of the story. Skywater has an existing relationship with IMEC. See Skywater Florida facility. Senator Young played a key role in shepherding CHIPS, in collaboration with Senator Schummer. You can be certain that public monies will flow to IN, even though extant programs are nowhere...
IBM was my largest customer for many years. Novellus/LAM plating, CMP, X-ray photomasks, and many other things came out of IBM. I add that they were a benevolent force, compared to their brethren whoc can,t be bothered to attend conferences, let alone organize them. Of course, that "culture" was...
I had not considered that detail. I am not sure how or if ICs would have been broken out for firms making AND using their own chips. Can't see why they would. It's a good comment but too late to incorporate into my panel. I know for a fact that IBM's pursuit of semi technology (in the present)...
You are correct - I overstated the case. OEMs are the unsung heroes in this thing. As to your larger point, the US is an innovator but it's weak in implementation in terms of actual chip making. Blame high costs, blame Wall Street, blame business models, blame all three!
If you think about...
