-
-
News
News Highlights
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe Hole Truth: Via Integrity in an HDI World
From the drilled hole to registration across multiple sequential lamination cycles, to the quality of your copper plating, via reliability in an HDI world is becoming an ever-greater challenge. This month we look at “The Hole Truth,” from creating the “perfect” via to how you can assure via quality and reliability, the first time, every time.
In Pursuit of Perfection: Defect Reduction
For bare PCB board fabrication, defect reduction is a critical aspect of a company's bottom line profitability. In this issue, we examine how imaging, etching, and plating processes can provide information and insight into reducing defects and increasing yields.
Voices of the Industry
We take the pulse of the PCB industry by sharing insights from leading fabricators and suppliers in this month's issue. We've gathered their thoughts on the new U.S. administration, spending, the war in Ukraine, and their most pressing needs. It’s an eye-opening and enlightening look behind the curtain.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
U.S. Department of Commerce Announces CHIPS Incentives Awards with Corning, Edwards Vacuum, and Infinera
January 21, 2025 | U.S. Department of CommerceEstimated reading time: 4 minutes
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced it finalized three separate awards under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. The Department awarded Corning up to $32 million in direct funding, it awarded Edwards Vacuum up to $18 million in direct funding, and it awarded Infinera up to $93 million in direct funding. The awards come after the previously signed preliminary memoranda of terms, announced on November 8, 2024, October 10, 2024, and October 17, 2024, respectively, and the completion of the Department’s due diligence. The Department will disburse the funds based on the companies’ completion of project milestones.
“The bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act is a turning point for American innovation and manufacturing that is strengthening our economic and national security,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The semiconductors that will be manufactured in the United States are foundational to our technological and economic leadership of the 21st century.”
The awards announced today would support the following projects:
Corning: The Department’s award of up to $32 million will enable Corning, one of the largest industrial employers in New York’s North Country region, to increase production of Corning HPFS Fused Silica (High Purity Fused Silica) (HPFS) and EXTREME ULE Glass (Ultra Low Expansion Glass) and scale a novel technology manufacturing process in Canton. HFPS and ULE materials are key components of deep ultraviolet (DUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines and photomasks, which are important for the manufacturing of leading-edge semiconductors, and this new technology would improve EUV performance with a lower carbon footprint. This investment in Corning will enable a reliable domestic supply of these important components in the United States and help advance U.S. technology leadership in the lithography supply chain. The project is expected to create 130 manufacturing jobs and over 175 construction jobs. Corning’s project will also be supported by a commitment of up to $7 million by Empire State Development in performance-based Excelsior Jobs Program funding to support the building of computer chips.
Edwards Vacuum: The Department’s award of up to $18 million will support the construction of a greenfield state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Genesee County, New York and will produce dry vacuum pumps, which are needed for semiconductor production, and will create approximately up to 100 construction jobs and up to 500 production jobs. The investment will helpful a reliable domestic supply of important equipment for semiconductor manufacturing and is a meaningful step towards strengthening U.S. economic and national security, as currently, there is no domestic production of semiconductor-grade dry vacuum pumps. These pumps are essential for both advanced and legacy semiconductor fabrication: installed beneath the fab, they maintain the chamber environment where wafers are processed by evacuating toxic fumes and chemicals.
Infinera: The Department’s award of up to $93 million will support the construction of a new fab in San Jose, California, and a new advanced test and packaging facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is expected to increase Infinera’s existing domestic manufacturing capacity by an estimated factor of 10. Infinera is a vertically integrated photonic semiconductor and telecommunications equipment manufacturer that has operated its U.S. fabrication and advanced test and packaging facilities for over 20 years. As the United States becomes more reliant on larger amounts of data driving increased energy usage, Infinera’s indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (InP PICs) are increasingly important, using light to transfer information with greater energy efficiency. The PICs and optical modules are key components in optical network communications and enable the fast, reliable transfer of large amounts of data communications, spanning short-to long-distance broadband networks connecting cities, countries, and continents; between data centers; and between artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) clusters inside the data center. This investment will create approximately 500 manufacturing jobs and 1,200 construction jobs.
“Corning is proud to play a vital role in the nation’s efforts to strengthen the domestic semiconductor supply chain,” said Corning Incorporated Chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks. “This investment and our continued commitment in Canton will enable us to expand the next-generation manufacturing capabilities necessary for producing critical materials for lithography tools that create the world’s most advanced microchips, reinforcing our commitment to advancing semiconductor manufacturing, technology, and job creation in the United States.”
“We are honored to announce that we have finalized the agreement to receive CHIPS Act funding to increase photonic semiconductor fabrication and packaging in the U.S. and help protect our national security by enabling us to better compete with foreign adversary nations,” said David Heard, Infinera CEO. “This funding will accelerate delivery of U.S. photonic semiconductor innovations to meet the demands of critical network infrastructure in the era of AI.”
In addition, the Department amended the previously announced award to provide a supplemental award of up to $75 million in direct funding to GlobalFoundries.
GlobalFoundries: The Department’s additional award of up to $75 million will support the expansion of the company’s existing Malta facility to provide first-of-its-kind advanced packaging technology and enable for a fully integrated pureplay foundry wafer manufacturing and advanced packaging process flow in the United States. The company’s expanded capabilities will focus on the packaging of photonic integrated circuits, which will enable faster networking and communications to support AI and high-performance compute end markets, in addition to chiplet integration and wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding. Through the company’s partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, the investment will establish a domestic capability for an end-to-end trusted process flow to meet U.S. national security needs.
As stated in the CHIPS Notice of Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities, CHIPS for America will distribute direct funding to recipients for capital expenditures based on the completion of construction, technology, production, and commercial milestones. The program will track the performance of each CHIPS Incentives Award via financial and programmatic reports, in accordance with the award terms and conditions.
Suggested Items
Zollner Completes Full Acquisition of Bluechips Microhouse
07/01/2025 | Zollner Elektronik AGZollner Elektronik AG has successfully finalized its com- plete takeover of Bluechips Microhouse Co., Ltd., in Thailand. In the future the company will operate as part of the Zollner Group of companies under the leadership of Thomas Kiefl – strategically networked, technologically focused and internationally oriented.
Inission Acquires the Lithuanian Company Selteka
07/01/2025 | InissionInission AB has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of UAB Selteka. Selteka is a well-respected EMS (electronics manufacturing services) company with operations located in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Kitron Strengthens Order Backlog with EUR 11 Million Contract for Defense Communication
07/01/2025 | KitronKitron has received an order valued at EUR 11 million to produce advanced military communication products destined for the European market.
TRI Unveils New Multi-Camera AOI, TR7500 SIII Ultra
07/01/2025 | TRITest Research, Inc. (TRI), the leading test and inspection systems provider for the electronics manufacturing industry, proudly introduces the new TR7500 SIII Ultra.
IMI Wins Gold Award for Best Managed Technology Company at FinanceAsia’s 29th Asia’s Best Companies Awards
07/01/2025 | IMIIntegrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) has been awarded the prestigious Gold Award for Best Managed Technology Company at the 29th edition of the Asia’s Best Companies Awards, hosted by FinanceAsia.