The Commerce Department said on May 23 that it has reached a preliminary agreement with Absolics to provide the company with $75 million of CHIPS and Science Act funding that will support the company’s construction of a facility in Covington, Ga., where it will develop substrates technology for use in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
The agreement with Absolics – an affiliate of South Korea-based SKC which makes specialty film, chemicals, and materials – marks the Commerce Department’s first foray with CHIPS and Science Act funding to support “a commercial facility supporting the semiconductor supply chain by manufacturing a new advanced material,” the agency said.
President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law in August 2022, making up to $52 billion of funding available to incentivize semiconductor makers to establish new manufacturing operations in the United States.
Since late last year, the Commerce Department has announced CHIPS and Science Act preliminary funding deals with several firms worth more than $26 billion – with most of those going to support the creation of new semiconductor making capacity in the U.S.
The proposed investment with Absolics holds the promise of creating over 1,000 construction jobs and approximately 200 manufacturing jobs in Georgia. The investment will support the creation of a 120,000-square-foot facility, and further enhance innovation capacity at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“An important part of the success of President Biden’s CHIPS program is ensuring the United States is a global leader in every part of the semiconductor supply chain, and the advanced semiconductor packaging technologies Absolics is working on will help to achieve that goal, while also creating hundreds of jobs in Georgia,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Absolics’ glass substrates will enhance semiconductor performance for AI and high-performance computing by enabling faster and more energy-efficient computing.
“Through this proposed investment in Absolics, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping accelerate innovation, advance U.S. technological leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, and generate economic opportunity in the Atlanta area and throughout the state,” added Raimondo.
Advanced packaging is crucial for improving semiconductor applications, starting with substrates. More capable substrates facilitate innovation at every level of the packaging process. Absolics will continue R&D with Georgia Tech and collaborate on defense projects.
Commerce Under Secretary and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Laurie Locascio stressed the importance of substrate innovation in improving semiconductor capabilities.
“Creating a broad-based advanced packaging ecosystem is crucial to the success of revitalizing the U.S. semiconductor industry and this all begins with substrates,” she said.
“Supporting innovation of the substrate can improve performance and reduce power needs in advanced packaging technologies which are critical to the needs of artificial intelligence capabilities and high-performance compute,” added Locascio.
