UK government pledges to create high-skilled jobs in support of £17bn semiconductor industry

A “cutting-edge” semiconductor facility – featuring technology previously used only in Japan – has opened at the University of Southampton, with the UK government unveiling a £4.8m (US$6.4m) skills package to support the growing sector.

Semiconductors are tiny chips found in nearly all electronic devices, from mobile phones to electric vehicles. The industry in the UK currently attracts around £10bn to the economy – which is expected to climb to £17bn by 2030.

The Southampton facility will be using electronic-beam lithography (EBL) technology to build next-generation semiconductor chips for medical and defence applications.

Science minister Lord Vallance, who opened the facility today, said: “By investing in both infrastructure and talent, we’re giving our researchers and innovators the support they need to develop next-generation chips right here in the UK.”

EBL technology

Creating nanostructures thousands of times smaller than a human hair, EBL uses a highly focused beam to design fine patterns on to materials.

The Southampton facility is located within the Zepler Cleanrooms Complex and houses equipment supplied by Japanese manufacturer JEOL.

The entire system will operate at 200 kV, making it only the second facility in the world to use such a high acceleration voltage – after a similar JEOL-operated site in Japan.

The University of Southampton says the system will allow researchers and engineers to develop fine geometry for devices for electronics, photonics and bio-nano technologies.

Graham Reed, who leads the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at Southampton, said: “The introduction of the new E-Beam facility will reinforce our position of hosting the most advanced cleanroom in UK academia.

“It facilitates a vast array of innovative and industrially relevant research, and much-needed semiconductor skills training.”

Government skills package

The skills package comes after a study commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) showed the British semiconductor industry had “major” skills and succession planning challenges – more than 10,000 of the current workforce are expected to retire within 15 years.

To tackle the skills gap and boost the workforce, the government package will commit £3m to undergraduate bursaries, £1.2m in chip design training across academia, and £550,000 to school outreach.

Lord Vallance added: “Our £4.75m skills package will support our Plan for Change by helping more young people into high-value semiconductors careers, closing skills gaps and backing growth in this critical sector.”