Commerce Department Proposes $400M Investment in GlobalWafers America, MEMC for Silicon Wafers Production

The Department of Commerce is planning to invest up to $400 million in GlobalWafers America and MEMC under the CHIPS and Science Act to increase the domestic production of silicon wafers used for manufacturing semiconductors.

Under a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms, the proposed investment would fund the construction of new wafer manufacturing facilities and create 1,700 construction jobs and 880 in manufacturing, the Department of Commerce said.

GlobalWafers America and MEMC, subsidiaries of GlobalWafers Co., will each build a 300 mm silicon wafer manufacturing facility in Texas and Missouri, respectively.

The investment would also support GlobalWafers America in converting a portion of its silicon epitaxy wafer manufacturing facility to silicon carbide epitaxy wafer manufacturing to produce 150 mm and 200 mm SiC epitaxy wafers.

According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a domestic source of silicon wafers, which are the backbone of advanced chips, will boost the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, lower chip production costs and improve U.S. economic and national security.

The semiconductor wafers “will be the foundation for the complex chips we need to compete in the global economy,” said Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a past Potomac Officers Club speaker and a past Wash100 awardee.