To Localize Next-generation Chip Technologies
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Jan. 19 that they would launch an advanced semiconductor development project to work on AI semiconductor chips, advanced semiconductor chips for use in major industries, and new low-power and high-performance devices.
The public announcement for the project is scheduled for Jan. 20 to Feb. 28 and project participants will be selected through subsequent screening procedures. In the project, the ministries will invest 488 billion won and 521.6 billion won from 2020 to 2029 and from 2020 to 2026, respectively.
In the semiconductor design field, the selected participants will work on high-speed interfaces and software, lightweight processors, high-speed storages for various applications, sensors, modems, drive and control techniques, and AI processors including neural processing units.
At the same time, ultra low-voltage devices, 3D integrated devices, logic-memory devices, brain-mimicking devices, and the like will be developed along with techniques for the commercialization of those devices.
In the semiconductor equipment and process field, sub-10 nm equipment, atomic deposition and automatic inspection techniques for high-density SoCs, heat treatment techniques for high-density packages and neutron-based software error detection techniques, will be developed.
The government is planning to organize a project team for more collaboration within the project to be led by the private sector. The team to be led by an external expert will include the Korea Research Foundation, the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion, and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology as its members.