A single smartphone contains over 10 billion semiconductor transistors. Alongside phones and laptops, transistors (or more broadly, integrated circuits or “chips”) are increasingly appearing in other products, from TVs, to cars, to fridges, as they get “smarter”. Of course, demand for chips is also rapidly growing for datacentres to enable artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Not to mention other kinds of semiconductor devices, such as power semiconductor devices (increasingly important for the green energy transition as we electrify more of our transport and other aspects of our lives), and light-emitting devices such as LEDs and lasers (which find applications in communications, displays, and energy efficient lighting systems).
However, the increasing demand, and increasing complexity of chip designs (in accordance with Moore’s Law), has meant that a correspondingly complex, and highly integrated, supply chain has evolved across multiple countries (on multiple continents) to fulfil it.
Chip designers, including “fabless” chip companies such as Cambridge-based Arm who do not themselves do any manufacturing, produce proprietary designs using specialised software. These are then provided to manufacturers, or foundries, who manufacture the chips according to those designs. Well over half of the world’s chips are manufactured by a single company: the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). For the most advanced chips, TSMC and others rely on the Dutch company ASML, who produce the only extreme ultraviolet lithography machines that are capable of etching the necessary structures onto silicon at resolutions below 5 nm.
On top of the highly specialised and integrated companies mentioned above, there are the companies that produce and develop the chip design software itself, as well as the manufacturers and providers of the chemicals and materials needed for the fabrication processes.
For obvious reasons, this complex and international network of companies and suppliers, which enables technology that is fundamental to our modern lives, has led many governments to take steps to encourage more domestic semiconductor production; for example the CHIPS and Science Act in the USA, and the European Chips Act in the European Union. Indeed, many members of the general public became acutely aware of the importance (and the potential vulnerabilities) of this network during the global chip shortage, largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that led to delays in deliveries of computers and other devices at a time when demand was high due to many people transitioning to working from home.
For the UK’s part, a recent statement from the government identified that semiconductor companies are worth £10 billion to the UK economy. Fabless Arm are probably the best-known British company in this area, and hosted a meeting of representatives from the G7’s Semiconductors Point of Contact Group at their Cambridge headquarters earlier this year to discuss increasing supply chain resilience. Arm undoubtedly form an integral part of the global semiconductor industry, however a number of smaller UK-based companies have been able to carve out their own specialised semiconductor manufacturing processes as well.
One such company, with its head office in Cambridge, is Pragmatic Semiconductor, who design and manufacture flexible integrated circuits with applications including tracking reusable packaging, and biometric security. Pragmatic have developed a low-cost, flexible alternative to silicon, and this year they opened the UK’s first 300 mm semiconductor wafer production line near Durham.
According to Pragmatic CTO Richard Price, the Durham site (which is in addition to an existing fab in Sedgefield) will enable the company to develop its “Fab-in-a-Box” solution, with the ultimate aim of bringing local and sustainable manufacturing of Pragmatic’s indium gallium zinc oxide-based flexible wafers, to their customers around the world. At the same time, Pragmatic is creating highly skilled jobs and internships at their UK locations.
Companies like Pragmatic are fulfilling the government’s ambitions to bring more semiconductor manufacturing back to the UK. They will be hoping that others will follow, providing employment opportunities and generating economic growth, while also helping the UK to grow its part in the global supply chain.
