GlobalWafers这是世界上三名硅晶片制造商之一，用于制造中央处理器和其他芯片，计划投资50亿美元在德克萨斯州谢尔曼（Sherman）建造300毫米晶圆制造厂。
The Taiwan-based company said the move would bring more wafer production capacity to the U.S. It comes at a time when a global shortage of chips has pushed Washington to become more self-reliant when it comes to chip-making.
320万平方英尺的硅晶圆厂将成为美国同类产品中最大的设施，也是世界上最大的设施之一。GlobalWafers表示，在完成几个设备安装阶段后，生产将每月击中约120万个晶圆。这转化为全球晶圆货物的10％据Semi称，在2021年，它上升到了创纪录的141.65亿个单位。
尽管公司正在投资生产能力来帮助改变潮流，但其他因素仍在延长全球芯片短缺，其中包括经过加工然后切成碎片的硅晶片的短供应。
Production snags have also hit supplies of substrates and other raw materials used to mass-produce chips, such as chemicals and gases. The sprawling supply chain used by the chip industry has also been tangled by the ongoing war in Europe, while harsh lockdowns in China have been playing havoc on supply and demand. These factors are leading to higher costs for chip vendors and long lead times for their customers.
GlobalWafers表示，将使用50亿美元的生产设施来帮助解决供应困境。由于需求前所未有的需求，包括其新设施预期的产出，它继续售出未来的容量。
从沙到硅
大多数晶圆由一种称为二氧化硅的沙子制成。制造过程涉及在坩埚中熔化和完善原材料，然后将其变成硅的圆柱形杆（所有单晶体）也称为boule。
The ingot is then sliced into discs about a millimeter thick that are polished mirror-smooth to remove as many irregularities and impurities as possible. The blank slabs of silicon measure up to 300 mm in diameter. Semiconductor companies buy the pristine plates of silicon and scorch transistor-shaped patterns on the surface using intense beams of light before slicing them into logic, memory, analog, or other types of chips.
GlobalWafers设施将加入美国英特尔，三星和TSMC现在正在建造的许多新工厂，宣布在亚利桑那州，德克萨斯州和俄亥俄州的Fab Projects，累计耗资约700亿美元。
英特尔表示，到本十年末，在其新的1,000英亩的制造地点，俄亥俄州哥伦布市以外的新1,000英亩的制造地点可能会投资1000亿美元，该地点能够容纳多达八个芯片工厂。
TI计划在2025年之前花费高达300亿美元，以在得克萨斯州达拉斯境外建造一个新的制造地点，以期在供应问题破坏的汽车和工业部门的需求中提前一步。
GlobalWafers计划在德克萨斯州建立的设施将在上网时创造多达1,500个工作岗位。该网站的生产预计最早将于2025年开始。
Shoring Up Supplies
目前，世界上大多数硅晶片都在亚洲生产，迫使美国的半导体公司购买进口商品。GlobalWafers说：“这项投资将代表美国二十年来美国第一个新的硅晶圆机构，并弥补关键的半导体供应链差距。”
Other companies are hopping aboard the U.S. chip boom. Merck, in early 2022, said it willinvest $1 billion in its U.S. operations增加其化学品和其他原材料的产量essential to run chip fabs.
"The chip shortage needs industry-wide cooperation to resolve the supply-chain issues consumers are currently facing," said Kai Beckmann, the CEO of Merck's electronics subsidiary, EMD Electronics, in January.
GlobalWafers”之际,美国努力approve the CHIPS Act, which would allocate $52 billion in funding to shore up chip manufacturing in the U.S. The company may be eligible for subsidies if the bill passes.
美国参议院于2021年通过的《筹码法》是为了抵制未来的筹码短缺，使美国与中国和亚洲其他国家的竞争力更具竞争力，今天大约有80％的筹码被捏造了。这座房子于2022年初通过了一项账单，支持了相同数量的资金。但是，参议院和众议院已经挣扎了几个月，以调和他们的两个提议之间的差异。
While the U.S. slogs along trying to approve the funding, some in the semiconductor industry fear that most of the funding will end up in the hands of the largest chip makers, while neglecting other parts of the electronic ecosystem.
But unless the U.S. passes the subsidy package, everyone is out of luck. “We are at a make-or-break moment to expand domestic semiconductor production,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
