The Department of Commerce has awarded direct funding worth up to $406 million in total to two GlobalWafers subsidiaries to strengthen the silicon wafers supply chain.
The department said Tuesday GlobalWafers America and MEMC were awarded under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities to bolster the domestic supply chain for 300mm wafers. The investment is also intended to create thousands of jobs and enhance national security.
Construction of Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Facilities
The awards will be used for the construction of wafer production facilities in Texas and Missouri. The two projects are expected to generate a total of around 1,700 construction jobs and 880 manufacturing jobs. The total expenditures for both projects is expected to reach $4 billion.
GWA’s Texas facility will used for the high-volume production of 300mm silicon wafer. It will be the first of its kind in the country. The silicon wafers will be utilized for manufacturing advanced memory devices.
The MEMC investment covers the construction of a Missouri facility where 300mm silicon-on-insulator, or SOI, wafers will be produced. These silicon wafers will be installed in devices used by the defense and aerospace sectors.
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, stated, “The semiconductor wafers that will be produced here in the U.S. because of this investment in GlobalWafers are the foundation of the advanced chips that will help us out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world.”
GlobalWafers CEO Doris Hsu, added, “GlobalWafers is proud to be a CHIPS for America participant and the only global producer now building advanced wafer facilities in the United States.”
