CHIPS Act funding to be awarded to Coherent, Skywater, and X-Fab
The proposed investments aim to bolster domestic chip production and supply chain security by supporting projects including the establishment of the world’s first 150 mm InP manufacturing line at Coherent’s facility in Sherman, Texas
The US Department of Commerce has signed three separate preliminary memoranda of terms under the CHIPS and Science Act to provide up to $33 million in proposed direct funding to Coherent, up to $16 million in proposed direct funding to SkyWater Technology Foundry, and up to $50 million in proposed direct funding to X-Fab.
The proposed investment in Coherent would support the expansion and modernisation of a state-of-the-art manufacturing cleanroom in Coherent’s existing 700,000 square-foot facility in Sherman, Texas, to establish the world’s first 150 mm InP manufacturing line by adding advanced wafer fabrication equipment to produce InP devices at scale. The increased production of Coherent’s InP devices, which are increasingly growing in demand, would allow the US to advance supply chain resiliency and technological leadership and create approximately 70 jobs.
The proposed investment in SkyWater would support the modernisation of its existing facility in Bloomington, Minnesota, to improve the quality of production and wafer services by replacing equipment, upgrading the facility’s cleanroom and space and IT systems, and increase overall production capacity of 90 nm and 130 nm wafers by approximately 30 percent. SkyWater’s Bloomington facility offers its customers in the aerospace and defence, automotive, biomedical and industrial markets the ability to prototype and scale to volume production differentiated technology.
The company is a Department of Defense (DoD) Trusted Foundry; as a result of proposed CHIPS funding, the company would be able to improve productivity and enhance operational sustainability to support DoD missions as well as grow its commercial business. The proposed CHIPS investment would build upon the company’s 40-year history in Bloomington, Minnesota and is expected to create approximately 70 jobs.
The proposed investment in X-Fab would support the modernisation and expansion of X-Fab’s silicon carbide foundry facility in Lubbock, Texas, the only high-volume silicon carbide foundry in the US. Silicon carbide technology is key to global decarbonisation efforts in the automotive and industrial sectors and offers multiple advantages over conventional silicon-based technologies for high-power applications.
The proposed CHIPS funding would bolster supply resiliency for critical infrastructure markets that were adversely impacted by foundry capacity shortages and supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed terms provide support for workforce development efforts, while the proposed investment would be expected to create an estimated 150 jobs.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act is making targeted investments to meet market demands for technology critical to our national and economic security,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Today’s proposed investments across Texas and Minnesota would help bolster domestic chip production and help secure our supply chain for decades to come.”
