Up to $1.6 Billion Aims to Establish and Accelerate Domestic Capacity Advanced Packaging

The CHIPS for America program anticipates up to $1.6 billion in funding innovation across five R&D areas, as outlined in the vision for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP). Through potential cooperative agreements, CHIPS for America would make several awards of approximately $150 million federal funding available per award in each research area. These awards will leverage private sector investments from industry and academia.

Advanced packaging capacity and R&D has never been in higher demand or more important to advances in semiconductor technology. Emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-driven applications are pushing the boundaries of current technologies like high performance computing and low power electronics, requiring leap-ahead advances in microelectronics capabilities, especially advanced packaging.

Advanced packaging allows manufacturers to make improvements in all aspects of system performance and function and to shorten time to market. Additional benefits include a reduced physical footprint, lower power, decreased costs, as well as increased chiplet reuse. Achieving these goals requires coordinated investments to support integrated R&D activities to establish leading-edge domestic capacity for semiconductor advanced packaging.

Funded activities are expected to be relevant to one or more of five R&D areas:

1. Equipment, tools, processes, and process integration;
2. Power delivery and thermal management;
3. Connector technology, including photonics and radio frequency (RF);
4. Chiplets ecosystem;
5. and co-design/electronic design automation (EDA).

In addition to the R&D areas, the funding opportunity is expected to include opportunities for prototype developments.