Is Japan's semiconductor industry finally on the road to revival?-EEWORLD

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The new Japanese chip factory being built by TSMC is the product of a long-standing relationship between the world's largest foundry and a country seeking to regain influence in the global semiconductor industry.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. wants to work with Sony Corp. and other partners to build a $7 billion plant in Kumamoto, western Japan. The Taiwanese contract manufacturer’s ongoing relationship with Japan led it to choose the country over proposals from several other countries.

The partnership took a big step forward in 2019, when the University of Tokyo formed an alliance with TSMC.

The two sides established a cooperation framework for the development of cutting-edge semiconductors for artificial intelligence. TSMC provided prototyping services, and the University of Tokyo used the company's platform to design chips. The two sides also exchanged technical experts in the cutting-edge fields of materials science, physics, and chemistry.

“We are delighted that we have decided to pursue international collaboration with unprecedented richness and depth,” said Makoto Goonokami, then president of the University of Tokyo.

TSMC said in February that it would establish a research center in Tsukuba, a city northeast of Tokyo. The site will develop 3D chip integration technology. Several companies have signed related cooperation agreements.

3D integration technology allows chips to push the limits of miniaturization. It forms part of the back-end processes that Japan sees as key to regaining dominance in the semiconductor industry.

The front-end process involves forming circuit patterns on wafers, while the back-end involves dicing the wafers into chips, connecting the chips to electrodes and encapsulating them in polymers. Japanese manufacturers have advantages in materials and new equipment used in the back-end process.

Japan is deepening its relationship with TSMC because it has the world's leading logic semiconductor production technology. The progress of chips and the research and development of surrounding industries are closely related to production technology.

But industry, government and academic figures have expressed concern about Japan's lack of advanced logic semiconductor production lines, an absence that has made the country dependent on overseas supplies of those chips.

In addition, if Japan continues to miss opportunities to develop cutting-edge manufacturing processes, it risks losing the knowledge, talent and other heritage accumulated in this area of the domestic chip industry. Japanese equipment and material manufacturers could move core functions abroad.

“Japan is losing its foundation for advanced logic semiconductors,” said Tetsuro Higashi, chairman of the executive committee of TIA, a Tokyo-based chip innovation group that brings together representatives from industry, government and academia. “We must have manufacturing processes as well as the talent and development engineers to support them. We are developing a strategy that expects it will take 10 years to build up the front-end processes.”

TSMC's planned $7 billion plant in Kumamoto Prefecture will produce chips in the 20-nanometer range. Since the world's most advanced chips are 3 nanometers, the plant will use manufacturing technology that is nearly a decade old.

However, the plant will meet growing demand for chips in the automotive industry and industrial applications, providing the type of facility Japan once abandoned.

Simply attracting factories to Japan will not solidify the country's chip manufacturing base. But factory engineers and companies in the supply chain will be directly involved in the production lines. The proposed Kumamoto plant will be a key part of developing a foundation for advanced logic chip technology in Japan.

There are some unanswered questions that could derail TSMC's entry. Will Japanese companies be reliable customers? Although Japan has lost influence in electronics such as home appliances and home computers, it still has industries with healthy demand for chips.

They are developing the automotive industry for autonomous driving and electrification technologies, as well as smart factories. They need to cultivate these markets faster before they lose value as semiconductor customers.

Another question is how Japan will support the move. Chipmakers in China and South Korea receive government aid to reduce factory operating costs. Without an equal footing in the playing field, achieving mass production will be a daunting challenge.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry unveiled its so-called semiconductor and digital industry strategy in June, saying it "will be implemented as a national project that goes beyond general private sector support."

In a field marked by huge and sudden changes in market and technology trends, it remains to be seen whether industry, government and academia will come together to rebuild Japan's semiconductor industry. If Japan's R&D centers can build factories with TSMC, then this goal will be accomplished.

Keywords：semiconductor Reference address：Is Japan's semiconductor industry finally on the road to revival?

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