A. Kim/NIST
Today, as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to open a competition for new research and development (R&D) activities that will establish and accelerate domestic capacity for semiconductor advanced packaging. The CHIPS for America program anticipates up to $1.6 billion in funding innovation across five R&D areas, as outlined in the vision for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP). Through potential cooperative agreements, CHIPS for America would make several awards of approximately $150 million federal funding available per award in each research area. These awards will leverage private sector investments from industry and academia.
"President Biden was clear that we need to build a vibrant domestic semiconductor ecosystem here in the U.S., and advanced packaging is a huge part of that. Now, thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to investing in America, the U.S. will have multiple advanced packaging options across the country and push the envelope in new packaging technologies. This announcement is just the most recent example of our commitment to investing in cutting edge R&D that is critical to creating quality jobs in the U.S. and making our country a leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing." said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
Advanced packaging capacity and R&D has never been in higher demand or more important to advances in semiconductor technology. Emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-driven applications are pushing the boundaries of current technologies like high performance computing and low power electronics, requiring leap-ahead advances in microelectronics capabilities, especially advanced packaging. Advanced packaging allows manufacturers to make improvements in all aspects of system performance and function and to shorten time to market. Additional benefits include a reduced physical footprint, lower power, decreased costs, as well as increased chiplet reuse. Achieving these goals requires coordinated investments to support integrated R&D activities to establish leading-edge domestic capacity for semiconductor advanced packaging.
"The National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program will enable a packaging sector within the United States that outpaces the world through innovation driven by robust R&D," said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Laurie E. Locascio. "Within a decade, through R&D funded by CHIPS for America, we will create a domestic packaging industry where advanced node chips manufactured in the U.S. and abroad can be packaged within the United States and where innovative designs and architectures are enabled through leading-edge packaging capabilities.
"Under President Biden's leadership, we're bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States, teaming with industry to build factories, supply chains, and jobs in communities across the country. That's how we win today, and CHIPS R&D is how we win tomorrow," said Arati Prabhakar, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. "Investing in research to accelerate new advanced semiconductor packaging approaches will help this pivotal and fast-changing industry thrive here at home now and into the future."
Funded activities are expected to be relevant to one or more of five R&D areas:
- Equipment, tools, processes, and process integration;
- Power delivery and thermal management;
- Connector technology, including photonics and radio frequency (RF);
- Chiplets ecosystem;
- and co-design/electronic design automation (EDA).
In addition to the R&D areas, the funding opportunity is expected to include opportunities for prototype developments.
