BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – January 26, 2021 – SkyWater Technology, the only U.S.-owned and operated pure play Trusted foundry, today announced a public-private partnership with Osceola County, Florida and BRIDG to accelerate access to domestic development and manufacturing services for microelectronics advanced packaging. SkyWater has established a subsidiary, SkyWater Florida, to assume operation of the Center for NeoVation, a state-of-the-art 200 mm semiconductor manufacturing facility that will become the foundation for the company’s leading-edge advanced packaging technology services. SkyWater will utilize the 109,000 square foot facility, with approximately 36,000 square feet of cleanroom space, to rapidly address emerging commercial and government agency needs for U.S.-sourced electronics.

SkyWater Florida will take over operation of the Center for NeoVation and will partner with BRIDG, a non-profit organization created to focus on advanced research, development, and manufacturing for next generation microelectronics. SkyWater will support BRIDG with multiple Department of Defense contracts, illustrating how U.S.-based public-private partnerships can play a significant role in securing the nation’s semiconductor supply chain. A signing ceremony between SkyWater, the County of Osceola, and BRIDG took place on January 25, 2021 at the Center for NeoVation.

Through this new endeavor, SkyWater is further expanding its growing portfolio of leading-edge manufacturing capabilities and value chain services for its customers. This synergistic combination of process R&D, wafer fabrication and advanced packaging technology services provides SkyWater’s customers with powerful competitive advantages including supply chain transparency, robust IP protection and an accelerated time to market.

The U.S. Congress has acknowledged the importance of advanced packaging for microelectronics through the recently enacted, bi-partisan National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 which proposes billions of dollars of financial incentives in support of domestic semiconductor development and manufacturing. According to Dr. Brad Ferguson, SkyWater’s chief technology officer and senior government relations executive, “Through the partnership of SkyWater and BRIDG, the Center for NeoVation will immediately serve as an epicenter for reshoring advanced packaging capabilities while also driving the realization of state of the art heterogenous integration solutions.”

The ability to create higher-performance and ever-smaller electronic devices is enhanced by many technologies outside of the traditional Moore’s Law scaling paradigm, particularly the way integrated circuits (ICs) are packaged together. Unlike the more conventional method of dicing a wafer into individual circuits and then packaging the discrete chips, advanced packaging, i.e., 2.5D and 3D system-in-package (SiP), refers to a variety of advanced packaging methods including multi-chip integration, various wafer or die level bonding and unique interconnect concepts, including interposers. These approaches offer numerous advantages that result in lower power consumption, increased I/O density, reduced form factors, and improved electrical and mechanical performance.

“We see demand for domestic advanced packaging capabilities firsthand from our customers as we co-create emerging disruptive technologies. Our vision is to establish another SkyWater center of excellence in the U.S. that will broaden the company’s ability to serve as a ‘one-stop shop’ for process innovation, wafer fabrication and advanced packaging,” said Thomas Sonderman, SkyWater’s president and chief executive officer. “We are investing in these new capabilities today because they are critical to our customers’ product roadmaps and ultimately, to their continued success.”

“SkyWater’s strong government agency relationships and clear commitment to public-private partnerships will provide unparalleled support for the Center for NeoVation’s government programs and enable seamless continuation of existing contracts with the Department of Defense,” said Osceola Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington. “We are very pleased to have SkyWater assume operation of the facility and help advance the County’s objectives and investment in establishing a high-tech economy. With SkyWater’s leadership and expertise, we are confident in the future success of the Center for NeoVation.”

About SkyWater Technology

SkyWater is the only U.S.-owned and U.S.-based pure play semiconductor foundry and is a DOD-accredited Trusted supplier, specializing in custom technology development services and volume manufacturing for integrated circuits and micro devices. Through its Technology Foundry model, SkyWater’s world-class operations and unique processing capabilities enable mixed-signal CMOS, power, rad-hard and ROIC solutions. SkyWater’s Advanced Technology Services empower development of superconducting and 3D ICs, along with carbon nanotube, photonic and MEMS devices. The company serves customers in growing markets such as aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, cloud & computing, consumer, industrialand IoT. For more information, please visit: www.skywatertechnology.com/.

SkyWater Company Contact: Tara Luther | 952.851.5023 | tara.luther@skywatertechnology.com

SkyWater Media Contact: Lauri Julian | 949.280.5602 | lauri.julian@skywatertechnology.com