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For Spain lose the packaging plant Integrated circuits that Broadcom was going to build on Spanish soil is a real maza. And it is for several reasons of weight. The most obvious is that the presence of a factory of this American company would place the country on the European map of The production of advanced substrates. And, in addition, presumably would generate high qualification jobs, would develop the technological ecosystem of the area in which new investment would finally be installed and attracted.
As we explain yesterday, this project finally It will not come to fruition. The leaks ensure that the negotiation held by the Spanish government and the Broadcom directive since July 2023 entered a man -dead point several months ago. There is no doubt that it was a very interesting plan for Spain, but, fortunately, it is not the only project that seeks to develop the local semiconductor industry and increase the relevance of Spanish companies in the global market of integrated circuits.
These projects give Spain the opportunity to grow in the chips industry
The installation that we can see in the cover photography of this article is the authentic protagonist of one of the most important projects that Spain is developing in the sector that concerns us: INNOFAB. The image building is the Alba synestron, which is housed in the Catalan town of Cerdanyola del Vallès, just 6 km from the center of Barcelona. And his role in the Innofab project will be crucial. An note before moving forward: a syncrotron is an electrons of circular electrons used to analyze atomic level the properties of matter, such as various types of materials, or even proteins.
The Spanish institution that is involved in this Plan is the Barcelona Microelectronics Institute belonging to the CSIC (IMB-CNM-CSIC), a center that has a lot of experience in both microelectronics and in advanced techniques for integrated circuit manufacturing. INNOFAB will be a state -of -the -art semiconductor factory which will be housed next to the Alba syrrtron. It will cost approximately 392 million euros and will be financed with funds from the Next Generation Plan of the European Union, as well as with capital contributed by the governments of Spain and the Generalitat.
Innofab’s construction works will begin soon with the purpose of the plant starting chips production in 2028
Construction works will begin soon with the purpose of the plant starting chips in 2028. This project is led by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and will reside very close to the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Its purpose is to develop, as I have mentioned a few lines above, next -generation integrated circuits, but it will not be conventional chips; They will be semiconductors in which advanced materials, such as graphene, will be used to unmark silicon semiconductors whose production It is controlled by Asia and the USA.
When the INNOFAB factory is ready, the ALBA particle accelerator will allow to analyze the candidate materials to be used in the production of semiconductors atomic. And also the properties of integrated avant -garde circuits. An important note is that Innofab will not produce chips in large quantities; Your role will be to develop advanced technologies which will then be commercially exploited in other plants. This role in a way justifies that its cost is somewhat less than 400 million euros.
In any case, Innofab is not the only project dedicated to the chips that Spain is developing. The Godic plan It seeks to develop the necessary technologies to make possible the large -scale manufacture of polyristaline silicon carbide. This initiative is framed within the belonging of microelectronics and semiconductors (popularly known as the chip) and has a budget of 3.3 million euros to which the State contributes by assuming 68% of the total cost. It sounds good, but there is more than we should not overlook: the reason why this project is so important to Europe and Spain.
The Godic plan seeks to develop the necessary technologies to make possible the large -scale manufacture of polyristaline silicon carbide
The current situation of tension in geopolitical and geostrategic fields That they support the US and Europe on one side, and China to the other, it is promoting that the old continent is doing everything in its hand to reinforce its supply chain linked to the integrated circuit industry. Its purpose is put an end to its deep dependence of Asian suppliers in general, and of China in particular, so having a manufacturing plant of their own silicon carbide is crucial on the road to this objective. It is for Spain and also for Europe because it currently lacks this resource.
The Diosic project began its journey at the end of 2023 and will last 26 months, so presumably the Spanish companies involved in it will conclude the development of innovations that are necessary to carry it forward in early 2026. Or, perhaps, if everything goes like silk, at the end of 2025. Anyway it is important that we do not overlook that beyond consolidating the independence of Spain and Europe Cost of the production of integrated circuits by 30%, and, at the same time, increase their yield by 35%.
Before concluding this article, it is worth not overlooking another project that is also very important for Spain: the set -up The new European pilot line that pursues Lead the integration and encapsulation of components and electronic systems. The Spanish institution that is involved in this plan is the CSIC Barcelona Microelectronics Institute (IMB-CNM-CSIC), a center that has a lot of experience in both microelectronics and in advanced techniques for manufacturing integrated circuits.
Any initiative that increases the competitiveness of Europe in a strategic industry such as semiconductors must be welcome
“We intend to work on two approaches depending on whether the evacuation of high heat densities is required, as in the case of the ASIC, or if what is sought is a homogeneous distribution of temperature, more applicable to the case of image and radiation sensors. All this with the objective of incorporating cooling together with the rest of the functionalities in the heterogeneous integration of systems,” Miguel Ullán points outIMB-CNM-CSIC researcher Refrigeration technologies expert.
There is no doubt that any initiative that increases the competitiveness of Europe in a strategic industry such as semiconductors should be welcome. And, of course, it is very good news that Spain actively participate in it. One of the strengths of the old continent is its scientific capacity, and priori seems a good idea to resort to it. Right now reaching Asia as a whole OA USA seems very difficult, but at least Europe it must be more relevant in the field of medium -term semiconductors.
Image | ABMARTINEZBONILLO
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