The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) opening a competition for new R&D deliveries to secure and drive domestic capacity for semiconductor advanced packaging.

Apparently, advanced packaging capacity has ‘never been in higher demand’ or ‘more important’ to advancing semiconductor technology.

As outlined in the vision for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP), the CHIPS for America programme is expected to receive up to $1.6 billion in funding across five R&D areas – equipment, tools, processes, and process integration; power delivery and thermal management; connector technology, including photonics and radio frequency; chiplets ecosystem; and co-design and electronic design automation.

Potential cooperative agreements would see CHIPS for America award $150 million in federal funding to each research area and leverage private sector investments from industry and academia. The funding is anticipated to unlock prototype development opportunities.

AI-driven applications are helping to expand the capabilities of high-performance computing, low-power electronics, and other current technologies, the Department of Commerce explains. This is said to require ‘leap-ahead advances’ in microelectronics capabilities.

With advanced packaging, manufacturers are expected to shorten time to market by improving ‘all aspects’ of system performance and function. It is also said to reduce physical footprint, cut down on power, lower costs, and increase chiplet reuse.

Coordinated investments are set to achieve these goals and support integrated R&D activities to optimize domestic capacity for semiconductor advanced packaging.

The Notice of Intent falls under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

“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,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “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.”

“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,” added Arati Prabhakar, assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “That’s how we win today, and CHIPS R&D is how we win tomorrow.

“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.”

Further information about the NOI will be revealed in an upcoming webinar.

In similar news, Apple previously announced its intent to become the first and largest customer of Amkor’s manufacturing and packaging facility in Peoria, Arizona – aligning with the companies’ shared goal of manufacturing within the U.S. – and build the largest outsourced advanced packaging facility in America, packaging Apple silicon produced at the nearby TSMC fab.

Toppan has also established a sale and purchase agreement with JOLED Inc. to build a mass production line for high-density semiconductor packages at JOLED’s site in Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan. According to Toppan, requirements for high-speed, large-volume transmission are calling for such semiconductor packages as 2.xD packages, so the company plans to produce high-density semiconductor packages used in data centres and generative AI.

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