GlobalWafers, one of the world’s top three makers of silicon wafers used to make central processors and other chips, plans to invest $5 billion to build a 300-mm wafer manufacturing plant in Sherman, Texas.
这家总部位于台湾的公司表示，此举将为美国带来更多的晶圆生产能力，当时全球筹码短缺使华盛顿在筹码制作方面变得更加自力更生。
The 3.2 million-square-foot silicon wafer plant is set to become the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. as well as one of the biggest in the world. GlobalWafers said production will hit around 1.2 million wafers per month after it completes several stages of equipment installation. That translates to around 10% of global wafer shipmentsin 2021, which rose to a record-high 14.165 million units, according to SEMI.
While companies are investing in production capacity to help turn the tide, other factors are prolonging the global chip shortage, including a short supply of silicon wafers that are processed and then diced into chips.
生产障碍还击中了用于批量生产芯片（例如化学物质和气体）的底物和其他原材料的供应。芯片行业使用的庞大供应链也被欧洲正在进行的战争纠缠在一起，而中国的严厉封锁一直在供应和需求破坏。这些因素导致芯片供应商的成本更高，并为客户带来了较长的交货时间。
GlobalWafers said it will use the $5 billion production facility to help address the supply woes. It continues to sell out future capacity due to unprecedented demand, including the output anticipated from its new facility.
From Sand to Silicon
Most wafers are made from a type of sand called silica. The manufacturing process involves melting and refining the raw material in a crucible and then turning it into a cylindrical bar of silicon—all a single crystal—also called a boule.
然后将铸锭切成大约毫米厚的圆盘，它们是抛光的镜面光滑的，以消除尽可能多的不规则性和杂质。硅的空白板的直径高达300毫米。半导体公司在表面上购买硅和焦晶体形图案的原始板，并使用强烈的光束将其切成逻辑，记忆，模拟或其他类型的芯片。
The GlobalWafers facility is set to join a number of new fabs now being built in the U.S. Intel, Samsung, and TSMC have announced fab projects in Arizona, Texas, and Ohio that will cumulatively cost around $70 billion.
Intel has said that it could potentially invest up to $100 billion by the end of the decade in its new 1,000-acre manufacturing site outside of Columbus, Ohio, which is able to accommodate up to eight chip fabs.
TI plans to spend up to $30 billion to construct a new manufacturing site outside of Dallas, Texas, by 2025, in a bid to stay a step ahead of demand in the automotive and industrial sectors ravaged by supply issues.
The facility that GlobalWafers plans to erect in Texas will create as many as 1,500 jobs when it comes online. Production from the site is expected to begin as early as 2025.
支撑物资
Most of the world’s silicon wafers are currently manufactured in Asia, forcing semiconductor firms in the U.S. to buy imports. “This investment will represent the first new silicon wafer facility in the U.S. in over two decades and close a critical semiconductor supply-chain gap,” said GlobalWafers.
其他公司正在美国筹码繁荣。默克在2022年初表示将投资10亿美元to increase its output of chemicals and other raw materials运行芯片晶圆厂必不可少的。
默克公司电子子公司EMD Electronics的首席执行官Kai Beckmann表示：“筹码短缺需要整个行业的合作解决消费者目前面临的供应链问题。”
随着美国努力批准《筹码法》的努力，GlobalWafers的举动是出现的，该法案将分配520亿美元的资金，以支付美国的筹码制造业，如果该法案通过，该公司可能有资格获得补贴。
The CHIPS Act, which was passed by the U.S. Senate in 2021, is a bid to fight against future chip shortages and make the U.S. more competitive against China and other countries in Asia, where about 80% of chips are fabricated today. The House, in early 2022, passed a bill backing the same amount of funding. But the Senate and House have been struggling for months now to reconcile the differences between their two proposals.
尽管美国试图批准这笔资金，但半导体行业的一些人担心，大多数资金将最终落入最大的芯片制造商的手中，同时忽略了电子生态系统的其他部分。
但是，除非美国通过补贴方案，否则每个人都无法运气。商务部长吉娜·雷蒙多（Gina Raimondo）在一份声明中说：“我们正处于扩大国内半导体生产的一部分时刻。”
