自從格芯宣布專注于針對射頻和光學(xué)等獨(dú)特應(yīng)用的更高產(chǎn)量和更專業(yè)的工藝技術(shù)，已經(jīng)過去了兩年多的時間。這一轉(zhuǎn)變不僅為公司實(shí)現(xiàn)盈利，還使公司有能力專注于完善和提高現(xiàn)有的工藝節(jié)點(diǎn)，而無需承擔(dān)處于技術(shù)前沿的高昂成本。這項(xiàng)新戰(zhàn)略還在持續(xù)獲得回報，格芯最近分別與PsiQuantum公司和Raytheon公司宣布了光學(xué)和射頻方面的合作。

下文中，TIRIAS Research 解釋了格芯如何通過與PsiQuantum和Raytheon的最新合作伙伴關(guān)系提供差異化的解決方案，來重新定義前沿技術(shù)。

It has been a little over two years since GlobalFoundries pivoted from trying to compete with the likes of TSMC and Samsung on the bleeding-edge semiconductor process technology to focusing on higher volume and more specialized process technologies targeting unique applications like RF and optical.

The shift not only resulted in profitability， a first for the company， but also the ability to focus on refining and enhancing existing process nodes without the high expense of being on the bleeding edge. The company’s new strategy continues to pay off with recent partnership announcements with PsiQuantum and Raytheon for optical and RF， respectively.

Earlier this month， GlobalFoundries announced a partnership with quantum computing startup PsiQuantum for the manufacturing of the silicon photonics chips for quantum computing. PsiQuantum is focused on developing error-corrected， fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of scaling past one million qubits.

PsiQuantum unique approach use optical computing techniques. Using proprietary equipment at GlobalFoundries’ East Fishkill， New York and Dresden， Germany fabs， the companies will manufacture core components， such as single-photon sources and detectors.

Other companies like startup Lightmatter are also looking at optical computing for other applications， such as AI， because of the ability to essentially eliminate noise and heat. As a result， this push into manufacturing optical components for both networking and computing could be beneficial to a broader section of the industry.

More recently， GlobalFoundries announced a partnership with Raytheon to develop a new Gallium Nitride on Silicon （GaN-on-Si） semiconductor for manufacturing radio frequency （RF） components for 5G and 6G wireless infrastructure applications.

Raytheon will license its proprietary technology to GlobalFoundries for use at the company’s Burlington， Vermont facility. This not only enhances GlobalFoundries leadership position in RF semiconductor manufacturing， but it also increases the company’s importance to the U.S. military and defense segment through Raytheon， a leading aerospace and defense company.

Both announcements demonstrate the innovative ways that GlobalFoundries is utilizing its fabs to manufacture newer and differentiated technology. According to GlobalFoundries， the company still has room to expand manufacturing capacity and is committed to adding additional capacity in the future.

While the company is not on the bleeding-edge process node， it remains in the top three foundries in terms of manufacturing capacity and is the most geographically diversified independent foundry with fabs in the US， EU， and Asia.

As the EU and U.S. look at addressing the current chip shortage and long-term self-reliance， one aspect to consider is to not only understand how to use existing fab capacity more efficiently， but how to continue to invest and enhance that technology for new products. In being able to do this， GlobalFoundries has established a profitable niche in the market， especially for critical and emerging technologies.

本文轉(zhuǎn)自【Forbes】，作者 Jim McGregor & Tirias Research。

編輯：jq