SkyWater Technology

Last updated
SkyWater Technology
Company type Public
NYSE:  SKYT
Industry Semiconductor manufacturer
Founded2017 (2017)
Headquarters Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S.
Key people
Thomas Sonderman [1]
Products Semiconductor
Silicon chips
Silicon wafer
Website skywatertechnology.com

SkyWater Technology is an American semiconductor engineering and fabrication foundry, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. [2] [3] It is the only US-owned pure-play silicon foundry. [4]

Contents

History

The company was formed in 2017, when private equity firm Oxbow Industries acquired Cypress Foundry Solutions, a microelectronics fabricator that was previously a subsidiary of California-based Cypress Semiconductor Corp. [5] [6]

In early 2021, SkyWater acquired an additional chip factory in Osceola, Florida, [7] repurposing the University of Central Florida NeoCity fabrication facility into a second fabrication site. [8] It expanded its facility and add 100 new jobs in 2021, partially due to funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. [9]

Initial public offering

SkyWater Technology filed an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2021. [10] [11] [12]

U.S. infrastructure investment

SkyWater has been cited as an example of the infrastructure the Biden administration is investing in. On April 12, 2021, President Joe Biden held up a silicon wafer created by SkyWater as he explained that chips represents a form of infrastructure. [13] [14]

On July 20, 2022, Skywater announced plans to invest 1.8 billion dollars into a manufacturing facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, but the company has since backed out of those plans due to a shortage of funding. [15] The facility is within Purdue University's Discovery Park District. [16] [17]

Technology

SkyWater produces semiconductor chips using 90-nanometer process technology on equipment designed to handle 200-millimeter wafers of silicon. [18] [19] SkyWater works in the consumer, industrial, military & defense, and automotive industries. [20] SkyWater is a Department of Defense-accredited Trusted supplier, part of the DOD's efforts to secure a supply chain within the United States. [21] [22]

SkyWater has collaborated with Efabless and Google to create the first open source chip manufacturing program. [23]

On August 21, 2021, SkyWater announced an expanded partnership with Rockley Photonics Holdings, focused on Rockley's health monitoring solution. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semiconductor device fabrication</span> Manufacturing process used to create integrated circuits

Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to manufacture semiconductor devices, typically integrated circuits (ICs) such as computer processors, microcontrollers, and memory chips that are present in everyday electronic devices. It is a multiple-step photolithographic and physio-chemical process during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer, typically made of pure single-crystal semiconducting material. Silicon is almost always used, but various compound semiconductors are used for specialized applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STMicroelectronics</span> Semiconductor device manufacturer

STMicroelectronics N.V. is a multinational corporation and technology company of French-Italian origin. It is headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, on the Euronext Paris in Paris and on the Borsa Italiana in Milan. ST is the largest European semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. The company resulted from the merger of two government-owned semiconductor companies in 1987: Thomson Semiconducteurs of France and SGS Microelettronica of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSMC</span> Taiwanese semiconductor foundry company

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's second most valuable semiconductor company, the world's largest dedicated independent ("pure-play") semiconductor foundry, and its country's largest company, with headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It is majority owned by foreign investors, and the central government of Taiwan is the largest shareholder. In 2023, the company was ranked 44th in the Forbes Global 2000.

Fabless manufacturing is the design and sale of hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing their fabrication to a specialized manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry. These foundries are typically, but not exclusively, located in the United States, China, and Taiwan. Fabless companies can benefit from lower capital costs while concentrating their research and development resources on the end market. Some fabless companies and pure play foundries may offer integrated-circuit design services to third parties.

Wafer fabrication is a procedure composed of many repeated sequential processes to produce complete electrical or photonic circuits on semiconductor wafers in semiconductor device fabrication process. Examples include production of radio frequency (RF) amplifiers, LEDs, optical computer components, and microprocessors for computers. Wafer fabrication is used to build components with the necessary electrical structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semiconductor fabrication plant</span> Factory where integrated circuits are manufactured

In the microelectronics industry, a semiconductor fabrication plant is a factory for semiconductor device fabrication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X-Fab</span> German semiconductor foundry

The X-FAB Silicon Foundries is a group of semiconductor foundries. The group specializes in the fabrication of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for fabless semiconductor companies, as well as MEMS and solutions for high voltage applications. The holding company named "X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE" is based in Tessenderlo, Belgium while its headquarters is located in Erfurt, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-project wafer service</span>

Multi-project chip (MPC), and multi-project wafer (MPW) semiconductor manufacturing arrangements allow customers to share tooling and microelectronics wafer fabrication cost between several designs or projects.

Advanced Technology Development Facility is a research and development foundry for the semiconductor industry. It began operations as a research plant for SEMATECH in 1988, but was reorganized as a for-profit subsidiary in July 2004.

Elmos Semiconductor SE is a German manufacturer of semiconductor products headquartered in Dortmund, Germany. Elmos supplies automotive application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean semiconductor fabrication company located in Pasir Ris Wafer Fab Park. It was incorporated in 1999 and is a joint venture between NXP Semiconductors and TSMC. Founded by Philips and EDB Investments, the plant was completed in 2000.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF) is a multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Malta, New York. Created by the divestiture of the manufacturing arm of AMD, the company was privately owned by Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, until an initial public offering (IPO) in October 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SVTC Technologies</span>

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Weebit Nano is a public semiconductor IP company founded in Israel in 2015 and headquartered in Hod Hasharon, Israel. The company develops Resistive Random-Access Memory technologies. Resistive Random-Access Memory is a specialized form of non-volatile memory (NVM) for the semiconductor industry. The company’s products are targeted at a broad range of NVM markets where persistence, performance, and endurance are all required. ReRAM technology can be integrated in electronic devices like wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints, smartphones, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and 5G cellular communications, among other products. Weebit Nano’s IP can be licensed to semiconductor companies and semiconductor fabs.

The Chinese semiconductor industry, including integrated circuit design and manufacturing, forms a major part of mainland China's information technology industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHIPS and Science Act</span> United States legislation promoting the semiconductor industry and public basic research

The CHIPS and Science Act is a U.S. federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 9, 2022. The act authorizes roughly $280 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States, for which it appropriates $52.7 billion. The act includes $39 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing on U.S. soil along with 25% investment tax credits for costs of manufacturing equipment, and $13 billion for semiconductor research and workforce training, with the dual aim of strengthening American supply chain resilience and countering China. It also invests $174 billion in the overall ecosystem of public sector research in science and technology, including in NASA, the NSF, the DOE, the EDA, and NIST.

Zhang Rujing, alternatively known as Richard Chang Ru-gin, is a Chinese businessman and entrepreneur known for founding the largest contract chip manufacturer in mainland China, the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). In mainland China, Zhang is known as "the father of China's foundry industry" and China's "godfather of semiconductors".

Integra Technologies is an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly And Test (OSAT) post processing provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Its current facilities are located in Wichita and Milpitas, California. Their service converts final semiconductor wafers into useable packaged integrated circuits.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.eetimes.com/skywater-ceo-expands-technology-foundry-model/
  2. ↑ Rehkamp, Patrick. "Bloomington-based SkyWater Technology files to go public". Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal.
  3. ↑ "Semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology sets terms for $75 million IPO". Renaissance Capital.
  4. ↑ Moore, Samuel K (6 August 2018). "The Foundry at the Heart of DARPA's Plan to Let Old Fabs Beat New Ones". IEEE Spectrum.
  5. ↑ Reilly, Mark. "SkyWater Technology finishes Bloomington HQ expansion for 'rad-hard' chips". Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journals.
  6. ↑ Shih, Willy. "Inside SkyWater Technology's Domestic Semiconductor Foundry". Forbes.
  7. ↑ Ramstad, Evan. "SkyWater shares rise 20% as execs explain move to expand production capacity". Star Tribune.
  8. ↑ Reed, Charlie. "NeoCity back in business with tech firm replacing UCF". Around Osceola.
  9. ↑ Hauser, Tom. "Walz supports federal legislation to boost computer chip manufacturing". KSTP.
  10. ↑ Leopold, George. "SkyWater is Latest Tech IPO". EE Times.
  11. ↑ Manners, David (26 March 2021). "SkyWater to IPO". Electronics Weekly.
  12. ↑ "Semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology files for a $75 million IPO". Nasdaq.
  13. ↑ Aoyma, Naoatsu. "Niche chip maker SkyWater plays key role in U.S. supply strategy". The Asahi Shimbun.
  14. ↑ Nellis, Stephen (13 April 2021). "Biden's chip dreams face reality check of supply chain complexity". Reuters.
  15. ↑ "Original microchip plant no longer coming to West Lafayette". WLFI. April 5, 2024.
  16. ↑ "SkyWater Technology chooses Discovery Park District at Purdue for $1.8B semiconductor fabrication facility, to create 750 jobs in 5 years".
  17. ↑ Clark, Don; Swanson, Ana (2023-01-01). "U.S. Pours Money Into Chips, but Even Soaring Spending Has Limits". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  18. ↑ Moore, Samuel K (6 August 2018). "The Foundry at the Heart of DARPA's Plan to Let Old Fabs Beat New Ones". IEEE Spectrum.
  19. ↑ Lapedus, Mark (17 December 2020). "200mm Demand Surges". Semiconductor Engineering.
  20. ↑ "SkyWater Technology Foundry, Inc". OxBow Industries.
  21. ↑ Herman, Arthur. "Biden, Semiconductors, And America's Future". Forbes.
  22. ↑ Chowdry, Amit (24 August 2021). "SkyWater Technology Shares Increase Over 10% Pre-Market: Why It Happened". Pulse 2.
  23. ↑ Halfacree, Gareth. "Google, SkyWater Release Production Dev Kit, Offer Open Hardware Projects Free 130nm Manufacturing". Hackster.IO.
  24. ↑ Chatterjee, Manisha. "After Announcing an Expanded Partnership, is SkyWater Technology a Buy?". Yahoo News.
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