Department of Commerce Announces Letters of Intent With 4 Companies for $389 Million of R&D Awards

semiconductor-digest.com Oct 24, 2026

Department of Commerce Announces Letters of Intent With 4 Companies for $389 Million of R&D Awards

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Oct 24, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

The U.S. Department of Commerce signed letters of intent to award up to $389 million in CHIPS‑Act research grants to four firms for power‑electronics R&D. Helion will receive up to $175 million to develop high‑voltage semiconductors and modules for pulsed‑power fusion generators. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is slated for up to $85 million to create RF plasma‑heating semiconductors, embedded diagnostics electronics and radiation‑hard components. Vertical Semiconductor will get up to $73 million to advance vertical gallium‑nitride power devices and demonstrate a 2.5 MW AI data‑center rack. Sibelco will obtain up to $56 million to produce ultra‑high‑purity quartz for crystal growth and other semiconductor hardware. The awards aim to boost domestic supply chains, reduce foreign dependence, and secure high‑paying jobs, with the Commerce Department taking a minority equity stake in each company.

💡 Why It Matters

· By funding core power‑semiconductor and material breakthroughs, the grants directly strengthen U.S.
· energy‑grid resilience and the emerging fusion‑energy sector, giving America a strategic edge in critical technology supply chains.

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Gigaphoton Takes Its Lightsources Beyond the Scanner

Gigaphoton, a Komatsu subsidiary that has supplied over 2,500 KrF and ArF excimer lasers to DUV scanners for 26 years, announced at SEMICON West that it is expanding beyond lithography into four new fab applications. The company unveiled the G300K, a 248 nm KrF laser delivering 300 W at up to 4 kHz, designed for ultra‑fine ablation of advanced‑packaging substrates. Using mask‑projection optics, the system can drill multiple vias simultaneously, achieving diameters as small as 3 µm with near‑vertical sidewalls and minimal heat‑affected zone, far surpassing CO₂ and 355 nm UV lasers. Gigaphoton also outlined efforts on a compact EUV source, EUV‑based mask inspection, gas‑recycling for neon supply security, and pulsed‑laser deposition for superconducting wire, positioning its short‑wavelength technology for heterogeneous integration and future chiplet interconnects.

💡 By delivering sub‑10 µm vias in a single exposure, Gigaphoton’s excimer laser could eliminate costly multi‑step lithography for chiplet packaging, accelerating the shift to dense heterogeneous integration.

semiconductor-digest.com · Oct 24

Atomera, IQE Partner on RF GaN-on-Silicon for Volume Markets

Atomera and IQE plc have signed a Joint Development Agreement to demonstrate gallium‑nitride (GaN) epitaxy on Atomera’s Mears Silicon Technology (MST)‑enabled silicon wafers for radio‑frequency (RF) applications. The partnership combines Atomera’s quantum‑engineered silicon substrate, which promises higher transistor performance and lower cost, with IQE’s expertise in compound‑semiconductor epitaxy. Teams will co‑engineer a multi‑layer GaN‑on‑silicon structure aimed at delivering best‑in‑class linearity and loss for high‑volume RF markets, with the intent to produce test wafers for foundries, IDMs and fabless customers. The JDA envisions a multi‑cycle development process and leaves open the possibility of extending the technology to power‑electronics GaN use cases, potentially accelerating MST‑based wafer availability for mainstream markets.

💡 By marrying low‑cost silicon with high‑performance GaN, the collaboration could unlock affordable, mass‑produced RF components that were previously limited to expensive substrates.

semiconductor-digest.com · Oct 22

SEMI Forecasts 11.8% Growth in Silicon Wafer Shipments in 2026, With Record…

SEMI’s latest silicon wafer shipment forecast projects an 11.8% rise in 2026, reaching 14,420 million square inches (MSI). Shipments are expected to climb to 17,034 MSI by 2029, marking consecutive record highs. Growth is driven by robust AI demand, which fuels advanced epitaxial wafers for cutting‑edge logic and polished wafers for memory, including HBM, server DRAM, and enterprise NAND flash. Recovering mature‑node utilization and reduced inventory adjustments also support the uptick. The forecast reflects input from the Silicon Manufacturers Group.

💡 The surge underscores AI’s expanding hardware footprint, positioning silicon wafers as a critical bottleneck that could shape supply chain dynamics and chip innovation in the coming years.

semiconductor-digest.com · Oct 22

STMicroelectronics Adds MasterGaN7 Devices to Integrated High-Efficiency Power Family

STMicroelectronics has expanded its MasterGaN integrated transistor/driver portfolio with the MasterGaN7 series, featuring 650 V enhancement‑mode GaN transistors rated for 6 A. The half‑bridge devices combine two high‑voltage GaN switches with a gate driver in a QFN package that shares pinout with earlier MasterGaN parts, enabling designers to improve efficiency and power density in power adapters, chargers, industrial lighting and solar micro‑inverters. Integrated low‑drop‑out regulators stabilize gate‑drive voltage, while a pin‑driven shut‑down mode and fast wake‑up reduce no‑load consumption. With a 45 ns propagation delay, 2 MHz switching capability, bootstrap diode and protection, the parts require components, lowering BOM cost and footprint. Production units are now in a 9 mm × 9 mm QFN, priced from $3.83 per thousand, and an EVLMG7 evaluation board is offered for prototyping.

💡 The ultra‑compact, high‑frequency GaN solution lets OEMs slash board size and component count, accelerating time‑to‑market for next‑gen power converters.

semiconductor-digest.com · Oct 22

NVIDIA and Supply Chain Partners Expand Capacity to Accelerate AI Infrastructure Buildout

NVIDIA announced a coordinated expansion of its global manufacturing network with partners Amkor Technology, IBIDEN, King Yuan Electronics, Samsung Electro‑Mechanics, Siliconware Precision Industries and Unimicron. The plan adds substrate capacity by 2.5 times over three years, triples interposer wafer output, doubles testing capability and multiplies optical‑engine production, with key milestones reaching full capacity between 2027 and 2028. NVIDIA is providing multibillion‑dollar reservation advances to secure space at IBIDEN’s Ono plant, to fund Samsung’s upgrades in Sejong and Busan, and to support KYEC’s U.S. testing facilities. CEO Jensen Huang called the effort the “largest infrastructure buildout in human history,” aimed at removing capacity constraints as demand for AI supercomputing systems soars. The expanded supply chain will improve redundancy and lower times worldwide.

💡 Securing massive production capacity now lets NVIDIA outpace rivals and lock in supply for the AI hardware surge, turning a bottleneck into a strategic edge.

semiconductor-digest.com · Oct 22

Navitas Unveils Next-Generation Ultra-High-Voltage SiC Power Module

Navitas Semiconductor announced a new ultra‑high‑voltage SiC power module family, the G4H08MT23GB4, rated at 2300 V and built on the SiCPAK™ form factor. The full‑bridge devices achieve a class‑leading on‑resistance of 8 mΩ thanks to the fourth‑generation GeneSiC™ Trench‑Assisted Planar™ architecture. Enhanced thermal management comes from an aluminum‑nitride active‑metal‑braze substrate, epoxy‑resin potting and optional pre‑applied thermal interface material, while press‑fit pins double current capacity. Navitas qualified the modules to its AEC‑Plus reliability benchmark, extending high‑temperature, high‑voltage and power‑cycling tests beyond JEDEC standards. Target applications include solid‑state transformers for AI data‑center racks, grid‑scale battery storage, solar inverters and megawatt EV chargers, positioning the parts as a core building block for emerging medium‑voltage power architectures. The launch expands Navitas’ 2300 V and 3300 V SiC portfolio.

💡 By delivering the lowest on‑resistance in a SiCPAK package, the module lets designers shrink solid‑state transformers, cutting system size and cooling needs for AI‑driven data centers.