How Ireland has become a semiconductor powerhouse…
semiconductor powerhouse…
They call Ireland Silicon Island. For half a century, a small country at the western extremity of Europe has been building deep expertise in the chips industry and today it is making the discoveries that will shape the semiconductors sector for generations to come.
There are good reasons why Ireland has become home to 15 of the world’s top 30 semiconductor companies. Its rich microelectronics ecosystem is based on firm foundations. R&D hubs of world-leading private companies work side-by-side with innovative start-ups and government-backed research institutes, creating an environment of exceptional collaboration and support.
“The process began back in 1976, when Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) chose Limerick for its European headquarters,” says Seamus Carroll, VP Semiconductor Unit at IDA Ireland. “Since then, a succession of global semiconductor companies from the US, Europe and, increasingly, Asia have decided to locate here in Ireland, identifying it as a gateway to European and global markets. Because of their continued investment and expansion, Ireland’s semiconductor sector now employs 20,000 people and generates €15.5 billion in annual revenue.
This means that Ireland is optimally placed to benefit from the €43 billion commitment created by the European Chips Act, passed by the European Commission after both the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions exposed weaknesses in the global supply chain for semiconductors.
Jason Lynch is a prime example of Ireland’s semiconductor ecosystem in action. After working at ADI’s Irish operation he moved into the adjacent start-up world and became CEO of Equal1, a quantum computing spin-off from University College Dublin. In March, at the APS Global Physics Summit in California, Equal1 made the world sit up when it unveiled the Bell-1, a revolutionary system that integrates the elements of a quantum computer into a single silicon chip.
The Bell-1, rack-mounted and easily deployable in existing data centers, is the world’s first quantum computing server based on the existing semiconductor technology used to power modern microchips. Lynch says this “paradigm shift” was enabled by the intimate ecology of Ireland’s semiconductor sector, where experimentation takes place in alignment with the needs of business. “Ireland is a great place for that because there are senior teams here looking at the architecture that’s going to be needed. We have the ability to engage with them and tell them what we’re doing,” he says.
The breakthrough highlighted Ireland’s reputation as a global leader in chip technology. It will also inject added impetus into Ireland’s rapidly expanding semiconductor sector. “Quantum computing will be the next wave of growth for the semiconductor industry here in Ireland,” says Lynch. “Ireland is a small enough community that we can get together and do something meaningful with impact on the global stage.”
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