Taiwan–Japan tie-up on materials

Taiwan and Japan are moving their chip partnership upstream, into the chemicals and compounds that determine whether next-generation semiconductors can be built at scale. (digitimes.com) The new cooperation involves Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council and focuses on advanced semiconductor materials tied to future chips and clean-energy supply chains, DigiTimes reported on April 15, 2026. (digitimes.com) In chipmaking, materials are the inputs that let factories draw, etch and connect circuits on silicon wafers: photoresists for patterning, slurries for polishing, specialty gases and chemicals for deposition and cleaning, and newer compounds for power devices. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has said photoresist and electroplating additives are key materials it has worked to localize with suppliers in Taiwan. (tsmc.com 1) (tsmc.com 2) Japan enters this tie-up with a strong position in that layer of the supply chain. Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists chemical products and precision machinery among Taiwan’s major imports from Japan, and Japanese officials in Hiroshima this year described Taiwan as a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing, equipment and materials. (mofa.go.jp) (meti.go.jp) The timing lines up with a wider push on both sides. Rapidus said on April 11 that it is building out a research and manufacturing base in Hokkaido for 2-nanometer logic chips and still targets mass production in 2027, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$1.13 trillion after a 35% year-on-year rise. (rapidus.inc) (bloomberg.com) (tsmc.com) That makes materials a live issue now, not a lab exercise. Rapidus says its 2-nanometer program depends on gate-all-around transistor technology, and Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science says new materials and processes are central to next-generation semiconductor devices. (rapidus.inc) (nims.go.jp) The clean-energy piece points to a second class of chips: power semiconductors, which handle electricity in electric vehicles, chargers, solar equipment and data centers. Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science says silicon carbide and gallium nitride can cut power losses beyond what conventional silicon can do. (nims.go.jp) (pwc.com) Taiwanese companies are already moving in that direction. Yole Group reported that Taiwan-based Episil and Vangard are working on 8-inch silicon carbide wafer manufacturing, with mass production expected in the second half of 2026. (yolegroup.com) The Taiwan-Japan relationship in chips has been widening for more than a year. Taiwan’s government said in late 2024 that officials from both sides were discussing semiconductor supply-chain resilience and industrial cooperation, especially around Kyushu, Japan’s main chip cluster. (taiwantoday.tw) Taiwan’s science office in Japan has also been laying groundwork with Japanese research institutes. A June 2025 note from Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council said its representative met leaders at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science, which had just added a semiconductor research area and was working with Rapidus and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology on next-generation materials. (nstc.gov.tw) The practical test is whether this partnership produces factories, pilot lines and qualified materials rather than another memorandum. In semiconductors, the bottleneck is often not the chip design but the bottle of chemical or the wafer substrate that arrives on time and works every batch. (digitimes.com) (tsmc.com)