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PACKAGING » Product Updates US company to cooperate with German auto supplier ZF on chip factory Wolfspeed to build multi-billion euro semiconductor plant in Germany Source: Pexels/Mike B US maker of power chips Wolfspeed Inc. will invest over EUR 2 billion to build the world‘s largest factory for silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors in Saarland, Germany, Handelsblatt has reported, citing sources close to the project. German automotive supplier ZF will take a minority stake in the project. According to sources, the company wants to begin construction work on the site - a former coal power station in Ensdorf - as soon as possible, with production scheduled to begin in four years. There will also be a joint research centre built on the site. Handelsblatt says confirmation of German state subsidies for the project is still outstanding. As with other semiconductor manufacturers, these are expected to cover around 40 per cent of total costs. More expensive than conventional silicon, silicon carbide is in demand worldwide because of its useful properties as semiconductor material in EV applications. Smaller, lighter and more energy-efficient than their silicon counterparts, SiC chips are able to signficantly increase the range and performance of electric vehicles. The news of the mega fab sets ZF in direct competition with Bosch, thus far the only automotive supplier to manufacture its own SiC chips. www.wolfspeed.com Automotive demand for chips likely to increase threefold by 2030 Automotive suppliers urge EU to prioritise adoption of Chips Act The European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), which represents over 3,000 companies supplying components and technologies for mobility, has released a statement calling upon the European Commission, Parliament and Council to prioritise the adoption of the EU Chips Act and ensure trilogue negotiations can start as quickly as possible. It added that the European Commission and Member States should coordinate to ensure sufficient funds are mobilised, as it has been done in regions such as the US and Asia. E-mobility, automated, and connected driving solutions are leading to more automotive demand for chips. Automotive will be good for 14% of global demand for chips, up from 8% now, according to a recent study commissioned by VDA. The association pointed out that: • Shortage of nodes particularly used in automotive can continue beyond 2025 • Automotive demand for chips likely to increase threefold until 2030 • Continued uncertainty about the commitment of public authorities and framework conditions for investment is a concern As a response to the global semiconductor shortage, one year ago the European Commission published a legislative proposal for a Chips Act, with the aim of boosting EU production of semiconductors and addressing future supply chain crises. Since it was published on 8 February 2022, the proposal has been moving through the EU legislative process. On 24 January 2023, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted two draft bills: one on the “Chips Act” that aims to bolster technological capacity and innovation in the EU Chips ecosystem and a second one on the Chips Joint Undertaking to increase investments for developing this type of European ecosystem. This means negotiations with EU governments regarding how to finance the proposals can begin. “A late adoption of the Chips Act could become a true bottleneck. Industry is investing heavily in electrification and digitalisation of vehicles. Without a framework that provides certainty for investment in the supply chain of semiconductors, supply constraints will continue slowing down the transformation”, says CLEPA’s Secretary General Benjamin Krieger. “Continued uncertainty about the commitment of public authorities and framework conditions for investment is a significant disadvantage for EU industry,” CLEPA‘s statement said. “Despite significant investment announcements over the previous months, investment in the EU semiconductor industry remains up to four times lower than in the US for the period until 2025 . Policymakers should focus the inter-institutional negotiations on improving the EU Chips Act proposal in a way that secures private investment and reflects the close interdependence of the EU’s automotive and semiconductor supply chains. A broad approach to innovation requirements for public investment and lesslegal uncertainty about potential supply chain interventions will make the EU Chips Act a tool to strengthen the competitiveness of EU industry.” clepa.eu 40 EPP Europe » 04 | 2023
IPC report: IC substrate manufacturing in U.S needs to be established Success of U.S. Chips Act depends on pilot facility for IC substrates 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, 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 While IPC believes IC substrate projects are eligible for CHIPS Act funding, they are not being clearly prioritized Source:Public Domain 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-ofthe-art capabilities,” the tech leaders say. IC substrates IC substrates are base layers used in the packaging of integrated circuit chips, called semiconductors. Substrate layers connect chips with each other and with other items on a printed circuit board, 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 or Flip Chip Chip Scale Package. 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 facilities. www.IPC.org GaN power semiconductors increase energy efficiency Fraunhofer IMWS research contributes to GaN device process optimisation Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) says it has contributed to process and reliability optimisation of gallium nitride (GaN) devices by discovering a new defect signature in GaN components, as part of its work in the EUfunded project known as Ultimate GaN. In the recently completed research project, which ran for 3.5 years from 2019 to 2022, a consortium of 26 European partners from science and industry, under the leadership of Infineon Austria, set themselves the task of harnessing the advantages of GaN technology along the entire value chain to integrated system solutions. While GaN-based power semiconductors offer higher performance in a smaller space, and thus save energy and resources, the special chemical-physical material properties and the structure of high-electron mobility transistors raises questions. With high-resolution analysis procedures and innovative fault diagnosis methods the Fraunhofer In- stitute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS contributed to process optimisation and increasing the reliability of the GaN devices. Leakage current paths, for example, were localised after reliability testing and investigated microstructurally to determine their cause. As such, a new defect signature was identified that led to the premature electrical breakdown of special semi-vertical GaN transistors. On the basis of these findings, the manufacturing process could be systematically optimised. /www.imws.fraunhofer.de/en Fault analysis of a gate defect of a semi-vertical GaN transistor. Left: TEM analysis of the defect with steps in the gate sidewall caused by conventional processing. Right: TEM analysis of the transistor after optimising the etching process to create the edge structures Source: Fraunhofer IMWS SEM image of the detected crack initiation on test substrates with passivation layers Source: Fraunhofer IMWS EPP Europe » 04 | 2023 41
