The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) yesterday said it plans to present new projects within three months that would facilitate the development of power devices used in electric vehicles (EVs) and energy converters to complete the missing piece in the nation’s semiconductor industry.
Aside from the 2-nanometer or 1.4-nanometer semiconductor process technologies, Taiwan also seeks to broaden its semiconductor coverage to include power devices, or power semiconductors, which are made using less advanced technologies, NSTC Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told his first news conference in office yesterday.
Power devices are a key component of energy converters used in smart grids and metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors for EVs, the NSTC said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The agency aims to build an extensive smart grid hardware supply chain that covers everything from semiconductor modules to systems, Wu said.
“Taiwan has not made a full effort to develop this segment. This is the missing piece in the nation’s semiconductor industry,” Wu said. “We are aiming to build our own supply of power devices to facilitate the development of smart grids and smart EVs.”
Wu said that his task is to fulfill President William Lai ’s (賴清德) goal of having a “balanced” industrial environment.
As Taiwan has built a robust technology industry, it should leverage the power of technologies such as artificial intelligence to facilitate the development of the traditional sector and “green” energy, among others, he said.
Less advanced 8-inch fabs can be used to produce power devices on mature technology nodes such as 25-nanometer and 65-nanometer technologies, NSTC Deputy Minister Lin Faa-jeng (林法正) said on the sidelines of the news conference.
“There is no need for all companies to develop advanced technologies,” Lin said.
As Taiwan is to usher in an energy environment abound with renewable energy systems, EV charging piles and power storage units, energy converters would be critical to connect solar or other sources of renewable energy to Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) grids, he said.
Power devices are the key component for energy converters, he added.
The NSTC would push for Taiwan to produce the silicon carbide and gallium nitride used to make power devices, Lin said.
Local power device makers are facing difficulties finding the optimal materials and improving their yield rate, resulting in high manufacturing costs, Lin said.
The NSTC plans to offer funding to local universities and colleges to work together with local semiconductor companies to improve power device manufacturing capabilities, Lin said, adding that detailed plans would be unveiled in three months.
In addition to power devices, the NSTC is seeking to collaborate with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to build “science parks” overseas with the assistance of friendly allies, helping smaller businesses to expand their manufacturing footprints globally, Wu said.
That would help mitigate a talent shortage and tight supply of power, he said.
Asked about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) plan to make advanced 2-nanometer chips in the US, Wu said the chip giant has promised to maintain a research-and-development center and its most advanced technologies at home.
TSMC now operates a 2-nanometer R&D center in Hsinchu and plans to ramp up production of 2-nanomter chips there as well as other sites in Taiwan, Wu said.
He said he believes TSMC has the ability to safeguard its corporate secrets and technological know-how.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in