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by alephnerd·1mo ago·view on hn ↗
> these are pretty low-tech chips only for industrial uses

I don't like this framing.

These aren't logic ICs but that doesn't mean they are useless or "easy".

Heck, the only countries with Gallium Nitride fabrication capabilities and knowhow are the US, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and India.

In fact, compound semiconductors and power electronics is one segment where Europe's China dependency is extremely high, as they have significant uses from automotive to PLCs to weapons systems, and China has already begun embargoing the EU's access to rare earth elements [0] and has begun enforcing sanctions against the EU's aerospace and UAV industry [1].

These are dual use technologies and a major reason why both the US and China heavily invested in compound semiconductor capacity in the late 2010s and early 2020s.

Edit: can't reply

> In 2024 Belgium closed its only semi fab, which had recently pivoted to GaN

THEMA Foundries is working in photonics, not GaNs [2]. The GaN initiative (BelGaN) failed and the only two buyers interested in buying out the property for GaN fabrication were a Chinese and Indian player [2].

[0] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-firms-brace-more-shut...

[1] - https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351292/...

[2] - https://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2025/apr/belg...

2 comments
>Heck, the only countries with Gallium Nitride fabrication capabilities and knowhow are the US, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and India.

So basically all major industrial powers? In which case I don't get the use of the world "only" here, as if the EU, the richest block in the world, deserve praise for doing something countries a lot less wealthier are doing.

> and China has already begun embargoing the EU's access to rare earth elements [0] and has begun enforcing sanctions against the EU's aerospace and UAV industry [1].

The way it's framed it sounds like China is some evil bad guy for doing that but that's standard practice that the EU and US also do. The EU also restricts ASML EUV machines to China and sanctions Chinese tech in their defense sector. Standard stuff.

> So basically all major industrial powers

ASEAN doesn't have the capacity yet, but this is changing in 3-5 years as Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam have gotten IP transfers from European, Korean and Japanese technology partners.

Neither does the rest of the Europe excluding an Ireland-UK-UAE JV called ChipX (but the team is largely located in the US, UAE, Malaysia, and Japan) and the portion of STMicro in France that was part of state-owned Thomson Semiconducteurs before it was privatized.

Neither do any of the major industrial states in the Americas like Canada, Mexico, or Brazil.

> that's standard practice that the EU and US also do

My point is that states need to build domestic capacity where possible. And the EU is not a state. France continued to protect their GaN fabrication IP closely (not even sharing it with Italy despite STMicro being a French-Italian JV), and same with Germany to a certain extent.

> EU also restricts ASML EUV machines to China

It's actually the US that restricts ASML from selling EUV machines to China. The EUV light source itself is American technology developed and produced by Cymer in California. ASML was only permitted to acquire Cymer in 2014 under a strict technology sharing and export control agreement with the US government.

It's why, for instance, ASML's next generation research lithography machine is currently being installed in upstate New York and not somewhere in the Netherlands.

>It's why, for instance, ASML's next generation research lithography machine is currently being installed in upstate New York and not somewhere in the Netherlands.

Or more likely because there's already a semi fab in upstate new york and no fabs in the netherlands.

Nope. OP's right (and the only other person other than me who has pointed this out on HN).

ASML was one of the founding partners in Albany NanoTech in collaboration with SEMATECH which became the Upstate NY Semiconductor Cluster back in the mid-2000s [0][1].

It was out of SEMATECH that DUV and EUV Photolithography was productionized and licensed to ASML.

Much of the underlying IP used by ASML is licensed and firewalled under JVs with the US DoE and/or the SUNY Consortium (primarily their D/EUV light source work) or firewalled and export controlled by Taiwan (primarily their metrology work)

Btw, that tidbit has become one of the main vetting techniques I use now to see whether someone is blowing hot air or has actual experience in the Semiconductor industry.

[0] - https://www.eetimes.com/asml-to-build-400-million-us-researc...

[1] - https://www.eetimes.com/asml-sematech-team-on-manufacturing-...

Ah man, too bad you spent half your comment thumping your chest and dissing others, just to flex on your incomplete semi knowledge, because if you would have just stayed humble when explaining things without throwing accusations, you'd come out looking better.

If you actually knew as much as you claim, you'd have known that ASML bought SVG in 2001, and became ASML US, so in 2004, it was ASML US, former SVG, that was investing in SEMATECH, not the Dutch ASML. It may have the ASML label, but it still remains a sovereign US operation, like you said firewalled form the rest.

I could be wrong about some of this, but if so then it's another good chance for you to flex again on how you know more than some of us.

The SVG acquisition was still part of the initial CRADA. Nor does it undermine my nor OP's point.

And it's not about flexing. I've gotten tired of reflexive Euro- and American nationalism on HN by people who don't work in the industry.

People dissing fairly hard European initiatives like Infineon work building a GaN wafer fab instead of one dedicated to logic ICs or going the complete opposite and postulating the EU can be completely cut off from the US and replicate every technology from scratch are both constantly brought up on HN and are ridiculous positions.

In 2024 Belgium closed its only semi fab, which had recently pivoted to GaN.