-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueSolder Printing
In this issue, we turn a discerning eye to solder paste printing. As apertures shrink, and the requirement for multiple thicknesses of paste on the same board becomes more commonplace, consistently and accurately applying paste becomes ever more challenging.
A Culture of Thriving
One cannot simply command thriving; it must be nurtured, developed, and encouraged. In this issue, we explore strategies to improve your working relationship model—both internally and externally. In this culture of thriving, your business will grow in the process.
Certifications
Certifications have historically been seen as a cost of doing business, but how do we turn them into a positive ROI and a value to both customer and vendor?
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Success of CHIPS Act Depends on Quickly Establishing a Pilot Facility for Integrated Circuit Substrates, Tech Leaders Warn
March 14, 2023 | IPCEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
![](https://iconnect007.com/application/files/8216/9087/1188/IPC_Chips.jpg)
The success of the CHIPS for America program depends on establishing a U.S. pilot facility for manufacturing integrated circuit (IC) substrates; and getting it done sooner, incrementally, is better than doing it perfectly, according to a new industry report.
The IPC Chief Technologist Council, composed of nearly 20 technologists at leading companies and organizations, says the emerging CHIPS for America program must be leveraged to stimulate IC substrate fabrication, assembly, and test capabilities. Over the longer term the program must help the U.S. “leapfrog into state-of-the-art capabilities,” the tech leaders say.
IC substrates are base layers used in the packaging of integrated circuit chips, also called semiconductors. Substrate layers connect chips with each other and with other items on a printed circuit board (PCB), in addition to protecting, reinforcing, and supporting the IC chip. Semiconductors cannot function without IC substrates and PCBs, and more advanced chips require more advanced substrates and PCBs.
However, according to a prior IPC study, the United States has almost no capability to produce the most advanced IC substrates, called Flip Chip Ball Grid Array (FCBGA) or Flip Chip Chip Scale Package (FCCSP). The U.S. also has very limited capability and capacity to produce lower-end wire bonded substrates.
The U.S. Government has established processes to determine how CHIPS Act funding will be allocated, but the resulting “feeding frenzy” is eating up funding while failing to address related needs, the technologists say. While IPC believes IC substrate projects are eligible for CHIPS Act funding, they are not being clearly prioritized.
Thus, the group calls on industry and government to collaborate on building an IC Substrate Manufacturing Center of Excellence – a fabrication pilot line – that could be incrementally improved over time. The facility should be located and designed to address other weaknesses in the semiconductor packaging ecosystem, including education, training, R&D, and related manufacturing centers such as outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facilities.
“Spending more time planning, talking, and debating will not get us to the desired competitiveness position more quickly,” the technologists write. “Only by starting the process, using our collective intellect to make on-the-fly adjustments, will we reconcile the technology shortfall in a timely fashion. We need to do something, and sooner is better than perfect.”
IPC and its allies have been calling on President Biden to address urgent industrial base vulnerabilities and deliver on the promise of the CHIPS Act through a “silicon-to-systems” innovation strategy, recognizing that greater production of chips alone will not meet the U.S. goals of greater security and resilience in its supply chain.
As IPC President and CEO John W. Mitchell has said: “Increasing domestic chips production without bolstering the manufacture of cutting-edge PCBs and IC substrates risks lengthening the semiconductor supply chain, because many of the chips made in California or Ohio will still have to be sent outside of the United States for packaging and assembly into finished products.
“Policy makers need to move beyond a silicon-only mindset and rebuilding the wider U.S. electronics manufacturing industry.”
IPC will continue to work with the Biden administration, the U.S. Congress, and industry partners to support long-term policy and funding to rebuild the entire ecosystem that sustains innovative, resilient, and secure electronics manufacturing in the United States.
Suggested Items
Intervala Hosts Employee Car and Motorcycle Show, Benefit Nonprofits
08/27/2024 | IntervalaIntervala hosted an employee car and motorcycle show, aptly named the Vala-Cruise and it was a roaring success! Employees had the chance to show off their prized wheels, and it was incredible to see the variety and passion on display.
KIC Honored with IPC Recognition for 25 Years of Membership and Contributions to Electronics Manufacturing Industry
06/24/2024 | KICKIC, a renowned pioneer in thermal process and temperature measurement solutions for electronics manufacturing, is proud to announce that it has been recognized by IPC for 25 years of membership and significant contributions to electronics manufacturing.
Boeing Starliner Spacecraft Completes Successful Crewed Docking with International Space Station
06/07/2024 | BoeingNASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams successfully docked Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), about 26 hours after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
KIC’s Miles Moreau to Present Profiling Basics and Best Practices at SMTA Wisconsin Chapter PCBA Profile Workshop
01/25/2024 | KICKIC, a renowned pioneer in thermal process and temperature measurement solutions for electronics manufacturing, announces that Miles Moreau, General Manager, will be a featured speaker at the SMTA Wisconsin Chapter In-Person PCBA Profile Workshop.
The Drive Toward UHDI and Substrates
09/20/2023 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamPanasonic’s Darren Hitchcock spoke with the I-Connect007 Editorial Team on the complexities of moving toward ultra HDI manufacturing. As we learn in this conversation, the number of shifting constraints relative to traditional PCB fabrication is quite large and can sometimes conflict with each other.