-
The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Microchip Technology Inc. have reached a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide approximately $162 million in federal incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the onshoring of the company’s semiconductor supply chain. This investment would enable Microchip to significantly increase its U.S. production of microcontroller units (MCUs) and other specialty semiconductors built on mature-nodes critical to America’s automotive, commercial, industrial, defense, and aerospace industries and create over 700 direct construction and manufacturing jobs.
President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act – part of his Investing in America agenda – into law in August 2022, with the goal of strengthening U.S. supply chains, creating good-paying jobs, protecting national security, and advancing U.S. competitiveness. Today’s announcement is the second PMT announcement the Department of Commerce has made under the CHIPS and Science Act.
Microchip’s microcontroller units and mature-node semiconductors are critical components in the production and manufacturing of electric vehicles and other automotives, washing machines, cell phones, airplanes, and the defense-industrial base. Shortages of microcontrollers during the pandemic affected over 1% of global GDP. By investing in Microchip, the Biden-Harris Administration would help advance U.S. economic and national security by further securing a reliable, domestic supply of these chips.
The approximately $162 million in proposed CHIPS funding would be split across two projects: approximately $90 million to modernize and expand a fabrication facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and approximately $72 million to expand a fabrication facility in Gresham, Oregon. The projects are estimated to nearly triple the output of semiconductors the company produces at these sites, decreasing its reliance on foreign foundries and strengthening supply chain resilience, and creating good-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing.
“One of the objectives of the CHIPS and Science Act is to address the semiconductor supply chain shortages we saw during the pandemic that put our national security at risk and led to furloughed auto workers and higher prices for consumers. Today’s announcement with Microchip is a meaningful step in our efforts to bolster the supply chain for legacy semiconductors that are in everything from cars, to washing machines, to missiles,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “With this proposed investment, President Biden is delivering on his promise to rebuild America’s semiconductor supply chain, creating a more secure defense industrial base, lower prices for Americans, and over 700 jobs across Colorado and Oregon.”
“This manufacturing investment in Oregon and Colorado will advance the President’s goal of making semiconductors in America again and reducing reliance on global supply chains that led to price spikes and long wait lines for everything from autos to washing machines during the pandemic,” said White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard.
“This proposed investment and others like it will help ensure that U.S. companies have a stable supply of the critical chip components they need to keep their factories running,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “This is an example of how government and industry can work together to strengthen our economy, improve our national security, and increase the supply of high-quality jobs for American workers.”
“Microchip Technology manufactures semiconductors that are the backbone of electronic applications across vital industries like aerospace and defense, automotive, and medical. Microchip’s fabs in Colorado and Oregon, among others, perform specialized manufacturing as well as additional reliability and safety qualification for products designed for such mission-critical markets,” said Ganesh Moorthy, President and CEO of Microchip. “The funding Microchip is proposed to receive from the CHIPS and Science Act would be a direct investment to strengthen our national and economic security. As a US-based company, Microchip’s operations will continue to bolster the national semiconductor supply chain, as well as develop and expand our workforce.”
As explained in the Department’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity, the Department may offer applicants a PMT on a non-binding basis after satisfactory completion of the merit review of a full application. The PMT outlines key terms for a CHIPS incentives award, including the amount and form of the award.
After the PMT is signed, the Department begins a comprehensive due diligence process on the proposed project and other information contained in the application. After satisfactory completion of the due diligence phase, the Department may enter into final award documents with the applicant. Terms of the final award documents are subject to negotiations with the applicant and may differ from the terms of the PMT.
Original – U.S. Department of Commerce
-
In response to the critical shortage of skilled engineers in semiconductor Integrated Circuit (IC) design and layout, Professor Patrick Reynaert of KU Leuven, in collaboration with several leading semiconductor companies in Flanders, Belgium, including members of Flanders Semiconductors, has launched a great initiative.
Flanders is home to a multitude of commercial enterprises at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, playing essential roles in various electronic applications across industries such as automotive, medical, industrial, consumer, data center, optical, and space. Despite their ambitious growth plans, the semiconductor industry in Flanders faces a significant hurdle – a shortage of qualified engineers in IC design and layout.
To address this challenge head-on, Professor Reynaert’s recent initiative introduces three comprehensive courses designed to coach individuals into proficient ‘chip designers.’ This program equips students with specialized skills essential for semiconductor industry roles, focusing on practical insights and real-world perspectives.
Importantly, the courses are not just theoretically driven; they are developed and taught by experienced experts from Flanders’ leading semiconductor companies, including BelGan, Caeleste, easics, ICsense, imec, Melexis, Omnivision, and Sofics – all of whom are members of Flanders Semiconductors. This collaboration ensures that students gain industry-specific knowledge directly from those shaping the semiconductor landscape.
Members of Flanders Semiconductors support this initiative, donating time and resources to make these courses accessible. We encourage prospective students to enroll and embark on a journey towards becoming the future leaders of semiconductor design. For more information about the courses and enrollment details, please visit KU Leuven’s website.
Key points of this collaboration include:
- The chip lab at KU Leuven and various companies whom are member of Flanders Semiconductors collaborating to offer new training programs for chip developers.
- A significant shortage of chip developer profiles, especially due to European plans to reduce dependence on Asian and American chip companies.
- Three courses are planned, with the first starting in January, 2024.
Original – Flanders Semiconductors
-
Key Foundry announced that it has changed its corporate name to SK keyfoundry. The new name was recently approved by the shareholder, which went into effect starting January 1, 2024. SK keyfoundry completed the submission of applications to register a trademark at the end of last year in Korea and certain foreign countries.
SK keyfoundry, an 8-inch foundry which had been spun off from Magnachip Semiconductor in September 2020, became a subsidiary of SK hynix in August 2022. Post the acquisition by SK hynix, the company has pushed ahead with a name change together with the post-merger integration (PMI) and finally decided SK keyfoundry as its new name considering the business continuity with the existing customers. SK keyfoundry expects to gain a momentum in expanding its business by taking this name change as an opportunity to improve its reputation both domestically and internationally.
Headquartered in Cheongju, SK keyfoundry has a fab with the capacity of producing approximately 100,000 wafers per month, conducting a foundry business to mostly produce mixed-signal & analog chips, including Display Driver IC (DDI), Micro Controller Unit (MCU) and 8-inch wafer-based power IC, which is suitable for small quantity production of diverse products.
In particular, recently, there is a growing demand for 100V or higher BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) in the power IC market to achieve high speed electric power delivery and high power efficiency. As a leading foundry in HV BCD process, SK keyfoundry has been actively striving to position itself in the global market of power ICs for automotive and industrial. In addition, for the continuity of supplying power ICs, SK keyfoundry has also started developing the process development of Gallium Nitride (GaN), which is considered to be the next-generation power semiconductor device and is also actively reviewing the development of Silicon Carbide (SiC).
In the meantime, SK keyfoundry has designated 2024 as a year to begin the “deep change” to accomplish innovative growth and change and in connection with it, it recently carried out the reorganization of internal organizational structure. The ultimate goals are to secure new customers by improving our sales networks in the U.S and China and to accomplish high customer satisfaction by providing differentiated foundry process development and improving the quality of our products.
“Name change will instill a sense of belonging as a member of SK Group and serve as a driving force to evolve our company into a strong and agile one,” said Derek D. Lee, CEO of SK keyfoundry. “SK keyfoundry will work hard to gain more ground in the 8-inch foundry market by actively engaging in the market of power ICs for automotive.”
Original – SK keyfoundry
-
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited announced the release of two αMOS5™ 600V FRD Super Junction MOSFETs. αMOS5™ is AOS’s market and application-proven high voltage MOSFET platform, designed to meet the high efficiency and high-density needs of servers, workstations, telecom rectifiers, solar Inverters, EV charging, motor drives and industrial power applications.
The design of today’s mid-high power switched-mode power supply (SMPS) and solar inverter systems boil down to four major challenges – higher efficiency, higher density, lower system costs, and uncompromised robustness. High Voltage Super Junction MOSFETs are dominant the choice for topologies such as single/interleaved/dual boost/CrCM TP PFCs, LLC, PSFB, multi-level NPC/ANPC and so forth.
αMOS5™ has been the leading High Voltage Super Junction solution tailored for fast switching, ease-of use and robustness in mission-critical applications. αMOS5™ FRD FETs are engineered with strong intrinsic body diode to handle hard commutation scenarios, when the freewheeling body diode is in reverse recovery due to abnormal operations, such as short-circuit or start-up transients.
The two products released, the AOK095A60FD (TO-247) and AOTF125A60FDL (TO-220F), are 600V FRD FETs with 95mohm and 125mohm maximum Rdson, respectively. In tests conducted by AOS engineers, the body diodes of these two FRD FETs have survived high di/dt, under abnormal system conditions, even at elevated junction temperatures of up to 150°C. Additionally, AOS tests have shown that these devices’ turn off energy (Eoff) are noticeably lower than the competition’s, which contributes to higher efficiency in light or mid-load conditions.
“We defined our products for traditional power supplies, as well as DC/DC and DC/AC converters of solar inverters and ESS systems, where bi-directional topologies are needed. As energy storage-ready inverters become the trend and high voltage batteries are utilized increasingly in AC-coupled systems, the AOK095A60FD and AOTF125A60FDL will become industry leading solutions for bi-directional DC/DC and inverter/PFC applications that serve a wide range of power supplies, solar PV inverters, and ESS hybrid converters,” said Richard Zhang, Senior Director of Product Line and Global Power Supply Business at AOS.
Technical Highlights
- Rugged, fast recovery diode (FRD) with reduced Qrr for demanding use cases
- Engineered for both hard and soft switching topologies with ultra-low switching loss
- Strong UIS and SOA capabilities
- Engineered to prevent self turn-on
- Suitable for LLC, PSFB, CrCM Totem-Pole, Multi-level NPC and CrCM H-4/Cyclo Inverter applications
Original – Alpha and Omega Semiconductor
-
Littelfuse, Inc. was recently named one of America’s Most Responsible Companies on Newsweek’s 2024 list. This marks the second consecutive year the Company has been recognized.
This prestigious award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The final list recognizes the top 600 most responsible companies in the United States, spanning 14 industries.
“We are proud to be consistently recognized by Newsweek and Statista as one of the most responsible companies in America,” said Dave Heinzmann, Littelfuse President and Chief Executive Officer. “We understand the immense potential to create environmental, social, and ethical impact, and have positioned our business to deliver on our purpose—empowering a sustainable, connected, and safer world. I would like to thank our global teams, customers, suppliers, and partners who work every day to strengthen our sustainability efforts.”
America’s Most Responsible Companies ranking focuses on a holistic view of corporate responsibility that considers all three pillars of ESG: Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance. The analysis is based on KPI research and a public survey.
To learn more about the unwavering commitment of Littelfuse to drive positive change in the world, read the company’s 2022 Sustainability Report at littelfuse.com/about-us/sustainability.Original – Littelfuse
