News-in-Brief: January 2024

Regulations and Policy:

In January 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the finalization of two methods for analyzing PFAS: Method 1633 for 40 PFAS compounds in water, and method 1621 for adsorbable organic fluorine. The former is not yet nationally required for Clean Water Act compliance, but the EPA recommends its use. The latter method allows for the broad screening of thousands of PFAS compounds in parts-per-billion level in water.

In January 2024, Microchip announced that it secured $162 million from the CHIPS and Science Act, which is plans to split across two projects: the expansion of a facility in Colorado springs and in Gresham, Oregon.

Projects and contracts:

In January 2024, Intel and UMC announced the collaboration of the development of a 12nm process platform with FinFet capabilities. The partnership combines the capacity at Intel’s US sites with UMC’s experience in foundry services.

In January 2024, NHanced officially opened a mid-volume production for advanced package assembly in Indiana, putting the United States on the map for advanced packaging. It will reportedly start semiconductor production later in 2024. The planned capital investment into the facility from NHanced is $152 million.

In January 2024, the Department of Defence in the United States announced two contracts were awarded for the revitalization of advanced packaging capabilities for semiconductors. The two contracts are worth $49 million together and are intended for 2.5D/3D packaging solutions for defense applications. As part of the Reshore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics (RESHAPE) efforts, they were awarded to Micross components and the government of Osceola County, Florida.

In January 2024, Gradiantannounced that its recently acquired subsidiary – H+E group – has been awarded a new contract to design and build an ultrapure water plant for a major semiconductor manufacturer in Germany. The project is expected to commence in Q1 2024, with completion expected in 2025.

Jaweon Industrial announced that it has been awarded a contract for the supply of newly developed high-purity, environmentally friendly PGMEA solvent. Jaewon Industrial is among several South Korean companies working towards the localization of the production of raw materials in the face of export restrictions from Japan.

Acquisitions:

In November 2023, Vishay Intertechnology announced that it will acquire Nexperia’ 200nm fab in Newport, United Kingdom, for $177 million. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2024.

In Q4 2023, Atlas Copco announced that it has agreed to acquire Presys, a South Korean semiconductor isolation valve manufacturer. The transaction is expected to close in Q12024.

Sustainability:

In December 2023, Schneider Electric announced that Google, ASM and HP have joined the Catalyze program which aims to accelerate access to renewable energy throughout the semiconductor value chain. This comes after the initial announcement in July 2023 of Schneider Electric’s collaboration with Intel and Applied Materials.

In other collaboration news, Siemens have announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on driving digitalization and sustainability in microelectronics manufacturing and factory operations. The collaboration will explore the use of digital twins for manufacturing facilities.

Products and Technology:

Samyang Corporation announced that they have released two new products for ultrapure water generation in the semiconductor and other microelectronics industries. One product is a high-performance reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, and the second is an Electrodeionization (EDI) device.