Chitose, Hokkaido, April 11 (Jiji Press)–Japan will provide 631.5 billion yen in additional assistance to Tokyo-based chipmaker Rapidus Corp., which is developing next-generation semiconductors, the industry ministry said Saturday. As the company aims to start mass production of 2-nanometer chips in fiscal 2027, it will use the funding mainly for prototype refinement. The cumulative state support for Rapidus since fiscal 2022 will total up to 2,454 billion yen. “We will spare no effort in providing support necessary to ensure the (mass production) plan’s success,” industry minister Ryosei Akazawa said at the opening ceremony of a semiconductor analysis facility established by Rapidus in the city of Chitose in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido on Saturday. Semiconductor manufacturing is divided into front-end and back-end processes. Of the additional state support, 514.1 billion yen will be allocated for the front-end process of forming circuits on wafers, while 117.4 billion yen will be used for the back-end process of assembling final products. The new analysis facility is located next to a plant where a prototype production line for the front-end process is in operation. The facility will analyze the semiconductors produced at the plant and help improve yield rates, which will decide the profitability in mass production. “We are on track to achieve quality and yield targets at the fastest possible pace,” Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike said in a press conference. The company also announced that it will start full-scale operation of a back-end process research and development hub, aiming to establish technologies such as “chiplet,” which efficiently stacks multiple semiconductor chips. Meanwhile, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a national research and development corporation, has decided to provide about 76 billion yen in support for a development plan for artificial intelligence-related semiconductors by Fujitsu Ltd. and IBM Japan Ltd. In the future, the companies are expected to entrust manufacturing to Rapidus. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Japan to Provide Rapidus 631.5 B. Yen in Additional Aid
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