GF awarded $35M to accelerate GaN plans
US funding brings Vermont fab closer to large-scale production of next-generation GaN chips
GlobalFoundries has been awarded $35 million in federal funding from the US government to accelerate the manufacturing of GaN-on-silicon chips at its facility in Essex Junction, Vermont.
With the new funding, awarded by the Department of Defense’s Trusted Access Program Office (TAPO), GF plans to purchase additional tools to expand development and prototyping capabilities, moving closer to at-scale 200mm GaN-on-silicon production.
GF says it also plans to implement new capabilities for reducing the exposure of GF and its customers to supply chain constraints of gallium, while improving the speed of development, assurance of supply and competitiveness of US-made GaN chips.
The funding builds on previous collaboration with the US government – including $40 million in support from 2020-2022 .
GF’s facility in Essex Junction, Vermont, near Burlington, was among the first major semiconductor manufacturing sites in the United States. Today around 1,800 GF employees work at the site.
