Thintronics Announces Letter of Intent with the Department of Commerce for $50 Million in Incentives to Establish U.S. Leadership in Next-Generation Substrate Technology
Funding through the Department of Commerce's CHIPS Research and Development Office accelerates commercialization of next-generation interlayer dielectric (ILD) technology and strengthens U.S. leadership in advanced substrate IC packaging
ALAMEDA, Calif., July 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thintronics, an interconnect technology company developing next-generation interlayer dielectric (ILD) technology for advanced semiconductor substrates, today announced it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the CHIPS Research and Development Office (CRDO) for up to $50 million in CHIPS incentives under the CHIPS and Science Act.
The proposed incentives are expected to accelerate commercialization of Thintronics' ultra-low-loss substrate ILD platform, enabling the next generation of AI, high-performance computing, advanced networking, and chiplet-based semiconductor packaging.
AI compute and networking rely on a package substrate to deliver power and move data between the chip and the outside world. At the heart of every substrate is the interlayer dielectric (ILD), the technology that determines electrical performance, power efficiency, and signal integrity.
Today, approximately 98% of the world's advanced substrate ILD market is supplied by a single foreign company, creating one of the semiconductor industry's most significant supply chain vulnerabilities. At the same time, the industry's incumbent ILD technology is approaching its physical limits as AI systems transition to 448G networking and ultimately terabit interconnects.
Thintronics has developed a fundamentally new ultra-low-loss, non-polar ILD technology engineered to overcome both challenges by enabling the next generation of AI performance while establishing U.S. leadership in one of the semiconductor industry's most strategic technologies.
“With today's compute supply chain investments, the Trump Administration is accelerating America's innovation engine,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “These strategic investments will enhance our country's domestic capabilities, create high-paying jobs and keep America at the forefront of the semiconductor industry.”
The Department of Commerce's incentive accelerates R&D to establish the first vertically integrated substrate ILD platform spanning advanced materials development, ILD manufacturing, rapid substrate prototyping, substrate qualification, and integration with outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) partners. Together with strategic partners across the semiconductor ecosystem, Thintronics is building the foundational substrate platform required for the next generation of AI infrastructure.
“The future of AI won't be determined by silicon alone. It will be determined by how efficiently we connect it,” said Dr. Stefan Pastine, Chief Executive Officer of Thintronics. “As Moore's Law slows, advanced packaging, substrates, and interconnect are becoming as important as the silicon itself. The proposed incentives will accelerate commercialization of our technology while positioning the United States to lead one of the most important transitions in semiconductor history.”
“Today's substrate ILD technology was engineered for the CPU era,” said Dr. Tristan Ossama El Bouayadi, Chief Technology Officer of Thintronics. “AI demands dramatically higher bandwidth, lower electrical loss, finer interconnect density, and larger package architectures than conventional ILD technology was designed to support. Thintronics ILD is engineered to meet those requirements while remaining compatible with today's substrate manufacturing infrastructure, enabling rapid qualification and deployment across the semiconductor ecosystem.”
The proposed incentives will expand Thintronics' U.S. research, engineering, process integration, and qualification capabilities while strengthening collaboration by building an advanced US rapid prototyping ecosystem bringing together material suppliers, substrate manufacturers, equipment companies, and OSATs for advanced high-speed substrate. The investment establishes the foundation for long-term U.S. leadership in substrate technology supporting AI, defense, communications, and high-performance computing.
“The hardest challenge in semiconductor materials is moving from exceptional lab performance to repeatable, high-volume manufacturing,” said Kenneth Safar, Managing Director of Maverick Silicon. “Thintronics has assembled the technology, team, and ecosystem relationships to make that transition. This support is a major catalyst for accelerating customer qualification, and we are excited to continue supporting Thintronics as it scales.”
“The package substrate is now becoming the last electrical mile before optics, and ILD is the technology that determines how efficiently data moves across it. Thintronics is addressing an important critical emerging technology challenge in AI infrastructure, and we're excited to have the backing from the US Department of Commerce,” said Brendan Walsh, Partner at Translink Capital.
About Thintronics
Thintronics is a Silicon Valley semiconductor materials company developing next-generation interlayer dielectric (ILD) technology for advanced semiconductor substrates used in AI, high-performance computing, networking, and advanced packaging. The company's proprietary ultra-low-loss ILD platform enables higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, and next-generation chiplet architectures while advancing U.S. leadership in this critical area. Thintronics is backed by Maverick Silicon, Translink Capital, M Ventures, TGVP, and In-Q-Tel.
For more information, visit www.thintronics.com.
About Maverick Silicon
Maverick Silicon is a division of Maverick Capital focused exclusively on the semiconductor and computing infrastructure sector. Maverick Capital is an investment adviser founded by Lee S. Ainslie III with over thirty years of operating history.
About Translink Capital
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Translink Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology-based startups in the enterprise, infrastructure, sustainability, and robotics sectors. Founded in 2006, the firm has over $1 billion of assets under management and has been engineered to bring founders and their innovative companies together with a unique set of global resources and networks to support their journey to build foundational companies in their sector.
Media Contact
James Davis
James@thintronics.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
