For glass substrate manufacturing plants
🟦 U.S. Government Decides to Provide Subsidy Under AbsolicsCHIPS Act under SKC, South Korea
The U.S. government has decided to provide subsidies of up to 75 million dollars (about 1.18 billion yen) to Absolics, a U.S. subsidiary of SKC, a chemical manufacturer under the SK Group of South Korea, based on the CHIPS Act. This is the first subsidy under the CHIPS Act for a semiconductor material manufacturer. The grant will be used to construct a plant in Covington, Georgia, where Absolics will develop and manufacture glass substrates for advanced semiconductor packaging.
Absolics has the technology to achieve smaller, higher-performance packaging than conventional substrates by using advanced glass substrate technology jointly developed by SKC and Georgia Tech.
Major companies that receive subsidies under the CHIPS Act
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC): The world’s largest contract semiconductor manufacturer
- Samsung Electronics: Korea’s leading semiconductor company
- Intel: America’s Leading Semiconductor Company
- GLOBALFOUNDRIES: The world’s fourth-largest contract semiconductor manufacturer
- Micron Technology, a U.S. memory semiconductor company
- Microchip Technology: Microcontroller companies in the United States
- BAE Systems: Britain’s leading defence and aerospace company
- Polar Semiconductor: U.S. manufacturer of GaN power devices
- Absolics: A semiconductor materials company under the umbrella of SK Group in Korea
🟦 Packaging technology using glass substrates
In recent years, the U.S. government has launched a variety of measures to reduce its dependence on China for semiconductors and strengthen the domestic semiconductor supply chain. The CHIPS Act is part of this process, and aims to invest and lend huge amounts of money in the construction and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing plants and research and development.
Advanced semiconductor packaging technology is a technology that improves semiconductor performance, miniaturization, and power saving by integrating multiple chips into an integrated manner. In recent years, with the growing demand for AI, HPC, data centers, etc., the importance of packaging technology using advanced glass substrates has increased.
🟦Summary
In accordance with the CHIP Act, Absolics, a U.S. subsidiary of SKC, a chemical manufacturer under the SK Group of South Korea, will receive a subsidy for the construction of a production plant for glass substrates for advanced semiconductor packaging. This is the first case of subsidies for semiconductor material manufacturers.
The conversion from conventional resin substrates to glass substrates seems to have the potential to proceed at a surprisingly fast pace.
