IntelliEPI wins $41m innovation grant
Intelligent Epitaxy Technology (IntelliEPI) has announced it has won a Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) grant of just over $41 million for its new 30,000-square-foot wafer production facility in Allen, Texas, which is expected to nearly triple the company’s annual wafer production.
IntelliEPI manufactures and sells epitaxy-based epi-wafers on GaAs and InP substrates used in telecommunications, photonics, RF and microwave technologies, and other high-performance applications. It uses a proprietary real time in situ growth monitoring technology on MBE systems.
As the only domestic US manufacturer of epitaxy-based compound wafers, IntelliEPI will further modernise their epitaxy reactors in Texas — the state where they first incorporated the technology.
“This TSIF award underscores the critical importance of our advanced compound wafer technologies, along with TSIF’s strategic goals for semiconductor innovation,” said Yung-Chung Kao, IntelliEPI’s CEO and chairman of the Board. “The funding will not only expand our production facilities but also solidify the State of Texas’ position as a key hub for compound wafer manufacturing, a critical need for America’s national and economic security.”
“As the Senate sponsor of the Texas CHIPS Act, I am proud to have played a pivotal role in establishing the TSIF, which is now catalysing significant investments like IntelliEPI’s new facility,” said Senator Joan Huffman, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. “This fund not only supports job creation and economic growth but also fortifies Texas’s leadership in semiconductor innovation, ensuring our state’s prosperity for generations to come.”
The Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) is a new incentive program to encourage the continued leadership of Texas in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing. The TSIF was established in June 2023 when Governor Greg Abbott (pictured above) signed into law the Texas CHIPS Act (House Bill 5174), establishing the TSIF as well as the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium.
