The ambition of the only domestic wafer foundry in the United States

In our previous article 'You may not know about this pure wafer foundry in the United States', we provided an in-depth introduction to this pure wafer foundry in the United States. Recently, foreign media interviewed the CEO of the company and discussed its current and future plans. The following is compiled for the readers' enjoyment.

The following is the translated text:

SkyWater is a foundry that provides mass production capabilities, primarily offering 130nm mixed signal processes and process development facilities at its 200mm wafer fab located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Like most wafer fabs, SkyWater has strong demand. However, SkyWater's business model has subtle differences and special manufacturing processes. Skywater offers two businesses, Technology as a Service and Wafer Services. Among them, Wafer Services reduces the cost of advanced technology services, thereby increasing profits for the entire enterprise, "said Sonderman, CEO of the company

In the fall of 2019, SkyWater invested $170 million in cleanroom expansion and moved equipment in by July 2020. The expansion is aimed at obtaining support from the US government for the rad hard program. We have adopted dual inlaid copper interconnect technology and a 90nm rad hard process. This will provide us with more advanced interconnect capabilities and additional lithography technology to help us transition from 65nm to 45nm. We are the only pure wafer foundry that offers 65nm dual damascene copper process on 200mm wafers, "said Sonderman.

Meanwhile, as part of its advanced technology services business, the company has entered fields such as carbon nanotube FET, photonics, MEMS, and advanced packaging.

Has investment brought about an increase in production capacity? Does SkyWater have additional production capacity when demand for almost all forms of chip manufacturing is high? When asked this question, Sonderman responded, "Yes, but it depends on your measurement method. A 200mm wafer with 30 mask layers takes much longer in the factory than a power wafer with only 3 mask layers

SkyWater has reached an agreement with Steifpower Technology to design and manufacture power MOSFETs, IGBTs, and related power discrete devices that comply with automotive standards.

It is worth mentioning that this investment provides an additional 16000 square feet of construction and an additional 8000 square feet of cleanroom space for dual diamond copper processes.

Sonderman said, "We have also increased productivity. For example, we conduct wafer sorting on-site, which provides better online control and increases productivity by 30%

SkyWater has also established a strong relationship with Infineon Technologies AG, a German chip company.

Skywater originated from the chip manufacturing base previously owned by Cypress Semiconductor, initially established by Control Data Corp. After divesting the wafer fab, SkyWater signed a "accept or pay" old manufacturing agreement with Cypress.

Infineon completed its acquisition of Cypress in April 2020, providing an opportunity for SkyWater to renegotiate. The result is more similar work. However, with its continuous development in the fields of MEMS and power semiconductors, SkyWater is willing to produce other chip types for Infineon. Sonderman said that this includes new power MOSFET discrete devices using fin technology.

Sonderman said that SkyWater's wafer services are divided into three parts. Most of the 130nm mixed signal CMOS is produced on the process called S8 by Cypress, and SkyWater has renamed it as S81. This is for Infineon, Parade Technologies, and other companies. The second line is for processes of 90nm and below; Including 90nm anti radiation CMOS and 65nm CMOS. The third is power MOSFET discrete devices. Sonderman said that the current production capacity ratio of these three product lines is roughly divided into 80:10:10.

The other half of SkyWater's business is advanced technology services, which fundamentally help customers develop advanced manufacturing processes for professional products. Sonderman said that SkyWater currently has 60 business dealings with 40 clients.

Sonderman is passionate about the development of carbon nanotube FET and 90nm radiation resistance. Anti radiation circuits have strategic significance for military purposes, but the same technology may also be transferred to consumer applications. Sonderman said, "The company is talking about data centers in space, Wi Fi and cellular base stations in space. We are expanding our anti radiation technology to 65nm

Sonderman said that there is still more space in the expansion of wafer fabs to accommodate more equipment. In addition, Cypress has reserved a piece of land for testing and classification. Sonderman added that the area can be used as a clean room to expand copper production capacity. All of this may be affected by SkyWater's advanced encapsulation facility in Kissimmee, south of Orlando, central Florida.

Sonderman said there are plans to collaborate with European research institution IMEC to produce silicon intermediate layers for advanced small chip manufacturing/packaging. There is 36000 square feet of cleanroom manufacturing space, as well as 24000 square feet of dedicated support and laboratory space for manufacturing.

Sonderman said, "IMEC's intermediate layer technology will become a fundamental component of the facility. Advanced packaging is part of the CHIPS Act in the United States, which costs $24 billion to support domestic IC production." "The Florida factory has already signed a contract. They have been awarded a DARPA contract, which is why there is an IMEC engineering team there. We hope to increase production in 2021

Sonderman said, "Traditional OSAT companies (outsourced packaging and testing) are not truly suitable for heterogeneous assembly." Similarly, a large number of companies that do this are almost all located in Southeast Asia. We hope to support final assembly, packaging, and testing in the United States. If you are looking at products similar to the iPhone 12 mini, then this is a job in heterogeneous integration

When asked if SkyWater's IC production capacity is sold out, Sonderman was a bit ambiguous: "We have been looking for new customers, but we have not provided flexible capabilities; to become other sources or second sources

When asked if SkyWater hopes to expand production capacity through acquisitions, Sonderman is more confident. There are many 200mm wafer fabs in the United States, "Sonderman cited OnSemi, NXP Semiconductors, Infineon, and others as examples.

In 2020, Infineon acquired Fab 25, a 200mm wafer fab in Austin, Texas, along with the rest of Cypress. This may make sense for Infineon as it balanced its internal manufacturing and then sold it to a wafer fab, retaining the supply contract. Considering the existing relationship between Infineon and SkyWater, this seems to be a pending transaction.

Sonderman would only say, "The trend of IDM outsourcing is that it will continue. We will continue to focus on existing facilities

But Sonderman also emphasized that SkyWater's business model does not depend on scale as it disperses its work between mass production and high profit technology services.

Is SkyWater essentially an American company? Or can it still engage in partnerships and acquisitions overseas?

Sonderman said, "We are collaborating overseas. Pay attention to our relationship with IMEC. We are looking for different corridors that can be opened up. Our rad hard program can help us collaborate with the European Space Agency. We plan to establish a strong partnership with the European Union

Can you further discuss the way and speed of interaction with the European Union. Is it through the existing relationship with Infineon? Or through complementary relationships with X-Fab? Could the EU's involvement be related to Europe's recent renewed focus on the strategic importance of semiconductors?

You are right, our connection with Cypress has enabled us to maintain a long-term partnership with Infineon, which is an important part. We hope to continue expanding in the future with the good fit between various IoT and power management applications. In addition to Infineon, the EU is our home. We pay tribute to many powerful global industrial sensor and control suppliers, as well as automotive and even medical equipment and diagnostic OEMs that align well with our capabilities and value propositions. We are actively seeking and selecting representative partners to accelerate our entry into these EU countries' planned markets, and expect the region to become a meaningful growth driver in the coming years

The viewpoint on the EU's strategic focus on semiconductors is important. Both the United States and the EU currently attach great importance to strengthening the microelectronics supply chain in the Western Hemisphere. As a trusted OEM owned and operated by the US Department of Defense, we certainly have existing strategic relationships with many US agencies; but we also believe that our business model and geographic value proposition support the EU's goal of improving supply chain transparency through strong IP security and will establish strong industry partnerships between our continents.