U.S. Government Awards Up to $400 Million to GlobalWafers for Advanced Wafer Manufacturing Facilities in Texas and Missouri

U.S. Government Awards Up to $400 Million to GlobalWafers for Advanced Wafer Manufacturing Facilities in Texas and Missouri
Image credit: DIGITIMES Asia

The U.S. government is awarding up to $400 million from the CHIPS Act to GlobalWafers to support the development of its 300mm wafer manufacturing plants in Texas and Missouri. The Commerce Department highlighted that the Texas facility represents a significant milestone as the first in the country to produce 300mm wafers, which are crucial for modern semiconductor processes. Meanwhile, the Missouri facility will focus on producing a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) variant of the 300mm wafers, tailored for defense and aerospace applications where reliability is paramount.

GlobalWafers to produce 300mm wafers for defence and aerospace applications 
Image credit: Nikkei Asia

GlobalWafers, a Taiwanese chip company, initially revealed plans for the Texas plant over two years ago, repurposing funds initially intended for acquiring German wafer maker Siltronic, an acquisition that fell through due to German regulatory resistance. The Missouri plant, announced in 2021, is a collaboration with GlobalFoundries, a chip fab spun off from AMD that now specializes in older nodes. This facility is considered smaller, with an initial budget of $800 million, which also includes expanding a 200mm SOI wafer plant.

In total, the Texas and Missouri projects are expected to cost around $4 billion, with the CHIPS Act funding covering up to 10 percent of the budget. The Commerce Department estimates that these facilities will create 1,700 construction jobs and 880 manufacturing jobs.