GF gets $9.5M funding to advance GaN chip manufacturing
GlobalFoundries has received an additional USD 9.5 million in federal funding from the US government to advance the manufacturing of essential gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon semiconductors at its facility in Essex Junction, Vermont.
The funding moves GF closer to large-scale production of GaN chips. With the ability to handle high voltages and temperatures, GaN chip technology is essential for enabling higher performance and greater energy efficiency across a range of RF and high-power control applications including automobiles, datacenter, IoT, aerospace and defense.
With the award, GF will continue to add new tools, equipment and prototyping capabilities to its market-leading GaN IP portfolio and reliability testing as the company moves closer to full-scale manufacturing of its 200mm GaN chips in Vermont.
“GF is proud of its leadership in GaN chip technology, which is positioned to make game-changing advances across multiple end-markets and enable new generations of devices with more energy-efficient RF performance and faster-charging, longer-lasting batteries,” says Nicholas Sergeant, vice president of IoT and aerospace and defense at GF in a press release. “We appreciate the U.S. government’s partnership and ongoing support of our GaN program. Realizing full-scale GaN chip manufacturing will be a catalyst for innovation, for both our commercial and government partners, and will add resilience and strengthen the semiconductor supply chain.”
The new funding, awarded by the US Department of Defense’s Trusted Access Program Office (TAPO), represents the latest federal investment to support GF’s GaN program in Vermont.
In total, including the new award, GF has received more than USD 80 million since 2020 from the US government to support research, development and advancements to pave the way to full-scale GaN chip manufacturing.
