Amkor Technology Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) have signed an agreement to bring advanced packaging and test capabilities to the pure play foundry’s Arizona fabs currently under construction.
The deal will help to bring these technologies to the region’s semiconductor ecosystem by TSMC contracting packaging and test services from Amkor in its planned Peoria, Arizona, facility, which the company is building after receiving $400 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding.
TSMC said it will use the technologies to support its customers’ designs particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fab in Phoenix. The proximity of TMSC’s front-end fab and Amkor’s back-end facility will help accelerate overall product cycle times, the companies said.
Additionally, the companies will jointly define specific packaging technologies — like TSMC’s Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) and Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS).
Previously, Amkor said its new facility will be the largest outsourced packaging and test facility in the U.S. when completed. The first phase of the plant is targeted for production in the next 2 to 3 years and Amkor is working with Apple to test and package chips that will be produced for Apple at the upcoming TSMC’s double fab in Arizona. Amkor said that when its factory opens, Apple will be its first and largest customer.