Leveraging Simulations to Bring Chip Manufacturing Back to the United States – Securities.io

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Although microchips have always been important for the modern world, it wasn’t until the 2022 supply chain shock that governments and industries realized their critical importance for the global economy. The shortage was so severe that industries had no option but to halt their massive assembly lines.
So, why are microchips so important for the global economy? Simply put, microchips are the backbone of the modern tech industry, integral to everything from personal computers, smartphones, kitchen appliances, cars, medical devices, and even in some household pets for identification purposes.
But despite this critical importance, only a few countries can truly manufacture functional microchips, as this endeavor pushes the boundaries of precision engineering and technological innovation. After all, not only is microchip manufacturing a capital-intensive industry, but it also requires workers with a highly specialized skill set, which includes, but is not limited to, physics, materials science, and electrical engineering.
Besides, the facilities where these microchips are manufactured, known as fabs, require stringent environmental conditions for the production process. This involves maintaining specific temperatures and humidity levels and minimizing contamination as much as possible.
Even if such perfect conditions are met, the manufacturing process involves multiple steps, and every step has to be executed with perfection. Any errors can render the microchips useless.
Furthermore, ongoing technological advancements demand smaller, more efficient chips, placing additional pressure on fabs. And by the time they master the production of a particular generation of microchips, these may already be obsolete due to a lack of demand.
Such massive barriers make manufacturing microchips at scale a formidable challenge for most countries, even for the ones with the deepest pockets. 
Even the United States, the global tech superpower and a leader in semiconductor design, is not at the top position when it comes to microchip manufacturing, as that coveted spot goes to Taiwan. This is a result of Taiwan’s decades-long investment in semiconductor manufacturing and the presence of companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
These complexities show how challenging it is to gain self-dependence in terms of microchips. However, as per a recently published article on the website of the United States Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, its scientists are developing computer programs that will considerably improve the simulation of plasma processes used in microchip manufacturing. 
These new algorithms can outperform traditional simulation techniques in terms of accuracy and efficiency, expediting the microchip production process and, in turn, helping bring chip manufacturing back to the United States.
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory ran two research simultaneously, and their focus areas differed in terms of objectives. 
The complex patterns that are etched into silicon wafers to create microchips are largely produced using plasma reactors. The procedure depends on the behavior of plasma, an electrically charged gas that needs to be carefully controlled to achieve the intended outcome. 
Traditionally, stimulating the plasma process to forecast results and improve production methods has been a laborious and time-consuming task. That’s where PPPL’s first research comes into the picture. It seeks to change this situation by creating computer algorithms that can significantly cut down the amount of time required for these simulations. 
And they have been successful at it, as their team reduced the simulation timeframe from weeks to potentially days or even hours without sacrificing significant detail. As for how the PPPL’s scientists did so, they revisited history and refined the old algorithms, particularly those created in the 1980s, to achieve their desired results. 
In their second line of research, PPPL’s team of researchers addressed the problem of simulation accuracy. Given the complexity of plasma behavior, ensuring that simulations closely mirror real-world reactions is crucial for efficient microchip production methods. However, the need for a significant computing effort to accurately simulate the behavior of countless plasma particles has historically been quite challenging.
To tackle this issue, the PPPL research team simplified the representation of plasma particles in simulations. Rather than trying to account for each particle individually, they developed a method to group them into larger, more manageable entities. This approach significantly reduces the computational burden, leading to quicker and more accessible simulations. 
Initially, however, this simplification risked distorting the true dynamics of plasma behavior, potentially leading to less accurate predictions. In order to get around this hurdle, the researchers adjusted the simulation’s parameters, making these particle clusters larger and less dense. This modification ensures that the simulation’s predictions remain intact since the particle interactions will more closely mimic those in actual plasma. 
This careful balance between accuracy and simplification holds the significant potential to enhance microchip manufacturing processes.
PPPL’s research has significance beyond the technical domain, as it carries implications for the strategic dynamics of the global semiconductor market, especially for the United States. After all, this discovery holds the potential to redefine the microchip manufacturing landscape across the US by providing tools that can reduce the time and costs involved in microchip production. The ability to quickly adapt and improve production processes is crucial in an industry where market leadership often hinges on the pace of innovation.
Moreover, the availability of advanced simulation tools could level the playing field by enabling US-based startups and smaller businesses to compete more effectively against established global giants. This could spark a wave of innovation within the American semiconductor sector as more firms enter the market and provide fresh ideas and methodologies for designing and producing microchips.
Current global upheavals and geopolitical tensions have made supply chains vulnerable. This reliance on other countries for essential components like microchips poses a national risk. The US realized the extent of this risk during the 2022 semiconductor supply shock, concluding that any disruption in microchip supply could severely impact the global dominance of the US tech industry.
The PPPL study aligns with broader government initiatives, such as the CHIPS Act, which aims to restore American dominance in the semiconductor industry. Enacted on August 9, 2022, as the CHIPS and Science Act, it allocates almost $280 billion in funding to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing and reduce dependence on foreign sources. The funding supports research and development, domestic manufacturing incentives, and supply chain strengthening measures.
The shift towards securing and revitalizing our semiconductor capabilities is not just about maintaining economic resilience and national security; it’s also a crucial step in paving the way for the next revolution in manufacturing and technology—Industry 4.0. 
IBM sees Industry 4.0 as something where smart manufacturing will have a pivotal role to play. In other words, Industry 4.0 aims to digitally transform the field of manufacturing, where decisions will be delivered on a real-time basis, enhancing productivity to meet the ultimate objective of making the production and distribution process optimally flexible and agile. 
For the United States to become a leader in Industry 4.0, microchips will be more than necessary. A Goldman Sachs study has already shown that shortages in microchips could affect as many as 169 industries, including med-tech, agricultural machinery, consumer electronics, energy and enterprise. In 2021, for instance, the globally revered car company Renault could not produce as many as 500,000 cars because of the lack of microchips. 
This vulnerability underscores the critical nature of the issue, as increased dependence on Taiwan, as mentioned earlier, could mean a sudden disruption in the supply chain, as it happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, which would result in the complete falling apart of the system. 
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The United States has well realized how crucial microchips could be for them for a resilient and self-dependent economic future. The realization has led the country to encourage systems where the result is best-in-class microchips.
The George Washington University and four other academic research partners, for instance, have collaborated with the United States Department of Commerce’s National Institute for Standards and Technology, Google, and Semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology to develop a ‘domestic, affordable supply of such microchips for researchers and startups. 
This collaboration aims to produce silicon wafers that will host hundreds of microchips for distribution among the community. The researchers will have access to a pre-planarized chip platform, which is ‘suitable for integration and for benchmarking the performance of their novel devices against other devices from the community.’
According to Gina Adam, assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at GW’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, the partnership will provide:

“The research infrastructure needed to make advancements in the field of nanotechnology and semiconductor devices, particularly as the United States shifts its strategic focus to the reshoring of microchip production.”
To boost domestic microchip production, the United States government declared its plans to invest nearly US$162 million in Arizona-headquartered Microchip Technology. The collaboration between the business, the US government, and the company will be in the form of a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) agreement. 

The US government will provide millions in ‘federal incentives,’ which will be routed into two streams: US$90 million will be spent in modernizing and expanding the company’s Colorado Springs fabrication facility, and the rest of US$72 million will go into expanding the company’s Gresham, Oregon facility. 
A similar funding of US$35 million was earlier offered to BAE Systems Electronic Systems, a business unit of BAE Systems, Inc. The objective was to support the modernization of the company’s Microelectronics Center. 
Summarily, the United States has become visibly active, both at a policy level and execution level, to encourage microchip production in the country. And it has all the reasons to become active with such great vigor and intensity. It is only not essential to have the supply lines of computers, smartphones, and cars unperturbed. As we have already seen, the presence of microchips can strengthen national security mechanisms and cybersecurity structures. 
The 360-degree approach of the US authorities takes into account the necessity to incentivize manufacturing, encouraging research and development, fostering a trained workforce, and strengthening the activities relating to international information communications technology security and semiconductor supply chain. 
The billions of dollars the US authorities are ready to invest in making Microchip production a thriving domestic enterprise has managed to attract global players as well. 
For instance, the largest and most significant player on the map, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), has committed over US$12 billion to building a semiconductor fabrication plant in Arizona. Intel has plans to build a US$20 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Ohio. Micron Technology, Inc. has even more ambitious plans, as it proposes to invest up to US$100 billion over the next two decades to build a massive semiconductor factory in upstate New York. 
With all these initiatives and action plans in place, there is no reason why the United States should fall behind in the race for microchip production. However, to compete with East Asian countries that occupy close to three-fourths of the global modern chip manufacturing, the United States would have to build a robust talent and supply chain pipeline. It would also have to be aware of the demand so that it remains protected from the risks of overcapacity and excess supply. Also, the focus should remain on prioritizing the production of the right types of chips. 
According to Scott Kenedy, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies: 
“The US does need to expand chip production for a specific kind of chips that are directly related to American national security.”
Whether the US manages to increase microchip manufacturing and that too in the right optimized way is something that we will have to keep an eye on.
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Gaurav started trading cryptocurrencies in 2017 and has fallen in love with the crypto space ever since. His interest in everything crypto turned him into a writer specializing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Soon he found himself working with crypto companies and media outlets. He is also a big-time Batman fan.
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