Cardiff, Wales: All modern technology has the same beating heart. Smartphones, tablets, smart home devices, in-car entertainment systems, and even the complexity of electric vehicles (EVs), all require a silicon chip during the manufacturing process to make them work. Till the global pandemic in 2020 and subsequent lockdowns brought supply chains to a grinding halt, little did anyone realise the importance of these silicon chips. Now, we are embarking on the next evolution, of what is already a very complex and expensive process.
Compound semiconductors, as they are called, are increasingly finding a place alongside conventional silicon. The use cases, for now, revolve around its core strengths. Power, which can power the electronics for electric vehicles with a particular focus on extending battery life without compromising performance. Speed, which is relevant for radio frequency for 5G networks, and indeed upcoming 6G services as well as RADAR use. Finally, light, which relates to photonics for optical fibre communications.
Andy G Sellars FIET, who is Strategic Development Director at CSA Catapult, an innovation centre in Wales knows the road is long and winding. “This proportion is very small at the moment it’s growing very rapidly,” he says, referring to the use of these silicon chips in smartphones and electric vehicles, but only for specific applications. In smartphones, for instance, these faster chips drive face recognition technology.
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It was in the summer of last year, when India made the first move, announcing the Semicon India program, with an outlay of ₹76,000 crore, to push for the development of semiconductors as well as display manufacturing in the country.
The fiscal support is tiered, based on the specifics of manufacturing – manufacturing of 28nm or lower will be eligible for up to 50% of the project cost, whereas above 28 nm and up to 45nm (up to 40% of the project cost) while above 45 nm and up to 65nm (up to 30% of the project cost).
“It’s a sensible policy. It has a certain degree allocated towards midscale silicon fabrication,” says Sellars. The policy has global relevance, but the scope is wider – India has a large domestic market. “Semiconductors is a volume industry. The higher the volume, the more robust your commercial offering,” he adds.
Sellars says the CSA Catapult is making efforts to get UK companies to collaborate with companies in India, including in the EV space. “The next target would be closer collaborations on future telecoms,” he says.
The question is, how do compound semiconductors benefit communication and data networks? “If we look at the 5G network and potentially future 6G networks, most of the advances are taking place in the radio communications so it’s that the edge of the network, says Sellars.
“Compound semiconductors are required, first, to get the data rates up and secondly, to make that part of the network much more energy efficient,” he adds. The data networks can consume a lot of energy.
“Also, once we get the data rate at the front end of the network increased, there is a need for compound semiconductors to do that as well,” he adds.
In India, 5G networks are a mix of standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) networks. While the former is a network type that’s built completely from the ground up, the latter which is what Airtel has deployed, builds on a 4G network. Do 4G networks also use compound semiconductors?
“Some of them were using compound semiconductors. When you look at 3G, 4G and 5G, it is a blend of capabilities. When the 4G networks were first introduced, it might not be using compound semiconductors, but it gets upgraded eventually with compound company semiconductors. So that will give them that ability,” explains Sellars.
Last month, the UK also announced its semiconductor policy. The focus areas are compound semiconductors, research and development, intellectual property as well as design by investing up to £1 billion in the next decade.
The simple rule with semiconductor manufacturing is that as volumes go up, then the cost per unit comes down quite significantly. The discussion veered towards the need to keep costs down as it’ll directly impact the sticker price of consumer technology, everything from GaN (gallium nitride) chargers to electric vehicles.
“It is important to establish partnerships with countries like-minded countries, and that’s where I see India being a great sort of partner,” says Sellers.
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That is why, while it is early days for UK’s semiconductor policy, there is a greater understanding of the contours of India’s policy. “It seems to be concentrating on the areas which have large growth markets. And because of the large domestic market, that’s certainly going to help to make the best use of it,” Sellers says.
Critically, Sellars points out an important example, “It is to try and couple semiconductor production with the end markets. Some of the electric vehicle production in India is potentially one of the end markets, that could be used as an example,” he says.
The developments with compound semiconductors will have a greater impact beyond mobility and personal technology. High-speed data networks, encryption, computing performance as well as quantum technologies will derive the speed and power benefits of the next generation of silicon chips. Sellers also believes artificial intelligence, machine learning and the ever-improving software, will provide another layer for this evolution. One that’ll interface with the user.
Quantum computing is seeing significant movement. Intel, this week, joined the race with a new 12-Qubit chip. IBM’s quantum computer also completed a benchmark experiment.
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