Paragraf boss Simon Thomas, a frequent critic of UK chip policy, was recently overlooked for a position on a new government council Photo: Eddie Mulholland
The founder of one of Britain's best-known computer chip companies has warned that bureaucratic red tape and planning delays are holding back the British semiconductor industry.
Simon Thomas, chief executive of the graphene chip company Paragraph, said he it took 12 months and £1 million to install just one power cable.
“You'd be surprised at what it takes to connect something,” he said. .
Mr Thomas expressed dismay at British bureaucracy, saying companies like his were respected internationally.
He told The Telegraph: “The US comes to us often. Whether it's Arizona, Indiana or North Carolina, people come to us all the time and offer different things: “We can offer you this, we can offer you that.”
Mr Thomas compared the approach to the UK, where Para had to fight local planners and electricity companies to install power cables to supply a new headquarters building in Huntingdon.
Para is one of the few Britons. computer chip manufacturing enterprises, the future of which is a matter of public interest.
It is the only company in the world that uses graphene to produce semiconductor chips, using the same industrial processes as silicon, a material that is currently dominates.
The discovery of graphene in 2004 by researchers at the University of Manchester led some to call it a «wonder material.» The ultra-thin carbon-based substance, 200 times stronger than steel but highly electrically conductive, has enormous potential for a wide range of applications.
“Graphene can drive a processing chip more than 1,000 times faster than silicon due to its electrical conductivity,” Mr. Thomas said.
Simon Thomas' Paragraf has pioneered the use of graphene in semiconductors from its Huntingdon base. Photo: Jason Bye
This technological leap will impact all modern computing, from the giant data centers powering today's advances in artificial intelligence to the smartphones in our pockets.
He argues that graphene may not only achieve this long-awaited leap. in processing speed, but consume 10 pixels less power than silicon chips.
Using processes similar to those used by silicon chip manufacturers, Paragraf hopes it can take advantage of existing technologies and beat out its competitors on silicon.
However, the promise has not yet been fully realized.
Paragraf currently produces chips for its own limited product line, which includes magnetic field sensors and sensors for use in life sciences.
These products are a stepping stone towards realizing the dream of producing full-fledged graphene-based processors, like those used in PCs and smartphones.
Commercialization of the technology has been slow. A new foundry in Huntingdon — the site at the center of a planning dispute over a power cable — will be capable of producing a million devices a month once it is up and running, the Paragraph boss has said.
«You might think, 'Wow, this is great.' TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] produces a million devices every 20 minutes.»
1904 TSMC dominates the chip market
However, the potential of graphene-based chips helped Paragraf achieve prominence with sales of $574 billion ( £460 billion). ) semiconductor industry.
The company's promises aren't obvious when you look at its headquarters inside a former insulating glass factory. Staff joke that the Paragraph building is «a barn surrounded by sheep», a very British contrast between the millennia-old livestock scene and the cutting-edge developments taking place inside.
Global semiconductor industry It has risen rapidly in the political ranks in recent years agenda amid growing fears that China is preparing to invade Taiwan.
The island nation is a linchpin of the global semiconductor industry, producing about a fifth of the world's supply and a much larger share of the world's most advanced chips.
Mr Thomas, who worked in Taiwan early in his career, said: «They have invested heavily . They created science parks, invested in schools and universities so that people understood what high technology is.”
Taiwan's gross domestic product has tripled from the late 1990s to the present, from approximately £250 billion to £620 billion, thanks in large part to world-renowned computer chip makers such as TSMC.
1904. Chip production in the West is declining
Mr Thomas, who has a PhD in materials science and engineering, criticized the «lack of openness» around Britain's science parks and similar industrial innovation zones.
“We have clusters like the semiconductor cluster in South Wales, we have catapult centers and so on. But you're trying to get information between these different clusters or between these different investment activities. It is very difficult to get a clear picture of the situation.”
Rishi Sunak in May unveiled a £1 billion package of support for the semiconductor industry, split into an initial tranche of £200 million, followed by £100 million a year .
p>
However, the package pales in comparison to the Biden administration's US Chip Act, which includes $52 billion (£42 billion) in subsidies designed to entice chip companies to move to America.
British Chip companies including Pragmatic Semiconductor and London-listed IQE are setting up US subsidiaries as a result of Biden's sweeteners.
Meanwhile, EU leaders in June published plans to invest €8bn (£6.8bn) in similar companies. subsidies, with Brussels saying it hoped it would be financed by around 14 billion euros from private investors.
Mr Thomas said he was committed to Britain but had been critical of the government's support in the past.
“While we welcome the publication of the semiconductor strategy and the government's eventual commitment to moving the industry forward, the content has been frankly lackluster,” he memorably said when the government's semiconductor strategy document was unveiled in May .
Other industry figures also criticized the package. Amelia Armour, a partner at Paragraf-backed venture fund Amadeus Capital, called it «disappointing», adding that the UK «needs to try to keep up with the investment levels announced under EU and US chip laws.»
Scott White, the founder of rival chip company Pragmatic Semiconductor, described government funding as «certainly on the lower end of what would make sense.»
Armor and White are now both members of the Prime Minister's Semiconductor Advisory Council. The group, a body made up of academics, senior industry figures and prominent UK investors. It is chaired by Technology Secretary Paul Scully.
Mr Thomas, a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering, was rewarded for his outspokenness by not being included on the panel.
“I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Semiconductor Advisory Council will lead to a change in the government's attitude towards the needs of industry,” he said, adding that the advisory body “should be accountable to industry.”
“Because it is a big problem that has always been a problem in the past. The application of government or public service assistance to business enterprises has always been done from a public service perspective. And it didn't work.»
Although his criticism is harsh, Mr Thomas insists he is an «optimist» when it comes to Britain's prospects.
«We're going to make money that's where the money is,» he said, adding that he had a «stubborn» desire to «prove we can do it in the UK.»
A government spokesman said: «Our targeted semiconductor strategy doubles.» building on the UK's strengths to secure our leadership role in an integrated global marketplace.”
Detailed distribution of subsidies under the “ambitious” strategy will be announced in the autumn, the spokesman added.
Свежие комментарии