SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, and Deca Technologies (Deca), a leading provider of advanced electronic interconnect technology, today announced the kick-off of a significant new Department of Defense (DOD) effort to expand domestic fan-out wafer level packaging (FOWLP) capabilities for both government and commercial customers. These capabilities will be made possible through the five-year DOD contract recently awarded to Osceola County and SkyWater Florida, which is expected to fund the facilitization, tooling and build-out of the Center for Neovation. With an expected value of $120 million over five years, the award includes options for an additional $70 million, for a total value of up to $190 million. SkyWater is the first domestic licensee of Deca’s M-Series and Adaptive Patterning solutions to support the reshoring of the semiconductor supply chain.
The first generation of Deca’s M-Series FOWLP is broadly adopted across multiple device technology nodes in leading smartphones. Deca’s Gen 2 M-Series delivers a powerful new heterogenous integration solution for designers and manufacturers by streamlining the design and assembly processes and providing additional flexibility for multi-chip architectures with sub 20µm pitch. The Gen 2 M-series provides advantages to many markets such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and other advanced applications, giving system architects limitless potential through reticle-free maskless digital lithography and the flexibility of a molded interposer layer.
Through SkyWater’s collaboration with Deca, embedded devices including active and passive bridge die, integrated passives and a powerful technology roadmap are planned. SkyWater will implement Deca’s Adaptive Patterning, the industry’s only real-time design-during-manufacturing capability, allowing designers to scale to unprecedented device interface density with wider process windows for robust manufacturability.
The award is part of the DOD’s Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD’s) Re-shore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics (RESHAPE) efforts, and directly supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s initiatives to strengthen America’s supply chains. This initiative is significant as less than 3% of semiconductor advanced packaging manufacturing takes place in the U.S., posing national security and economic risks for domestic businesses as chips go overseas for this critical step.
In response to the vital need for reshoring, Osceola County and SkyWater plan to stand up advanced packaging capabilities and capacity for low-volume/high-mix production of secure 2.5 and 3D Advanced System Integration and Packaging (ASIP) solutions. To onshore these advanced packaging capabilities, SkyWater will be acquiring, installing, and qualifying new equipment at its Florida facility that can support FOWLP processing of incoming 200mm and 300mm device wafer formats. This dual-wafer size equipment capability provides the flexibility to support a vast array of customers and applications.
Statements about the RESHAPE Program Award:
Matt Walsh, Office of the Secretary of Defense IBAS advanced packaging chief engineer said, “We are very excited about supporting domestic advanced packaging solutions by enabling SkyWater and Deca to establish developmental and volume manufacturing FOWLP technology for commercial and government customers’ applications with technical capability that equals that of foreign providers.”
SkyWater CEO Thomas Sonderman commented, “This agreement with the county enables SkyWater Florida to execute all aspects of the initial DOD award of up to $120 million and stand up our fan-out wafer level packaging capabilities by utilizing Deca’s industry leading technology. Our partnership with the county continues to fortify their efforts to build a thriving community in Central Florida designed for advancing the next generation of technologies here in the U.S.”
AMD’s Corporate Vice President, Advanced Packaging Raja Swaminathan said, “As a leader in chiplet design and advanced packaging, AMD recognizes the importance of creating a geographically diverse advanced packaging supply chain. We applaud the DOD’s work to expand SkyWater’s manufacturing capabilities in Central Florida and establish a U.S.-based fan-out manufacturing option using Deca’s technology.”
Deca’s Founder and CEO Tim Olson stated, “We’re excited to collaborate with SkyWater on this groundbreaking opportunity to establish an industry leading domestic advanced packaging foundry supporting a secure U.S. microelectronics ecosystem as well as providing commercial customers with a compelling new supply chain option.”
According to Osceola County Manager, Don Fisher, “This award builds on all the hard work the county and our partners have invested in NeoCity. Our continued collaboration with SkyWater will help drive our progress in developing a vibrant ecosystem to advance the next generation of technologies that will shape our future and provide more high quality job opportunities in Florida.”
SkyWater Florida Vice President and General Manager, Dale Miller said, “We are excited to establish the first Deca FOWLP capability in the U.S. This represents our third heterogeneous integration technology for the Kissimmee facility. It’s an important addition because it completes our advanced packaging trifecta of interposer, hybrid bonding, and now fan-out wafer level packaging technology – all in one facility – to support both DOD and commercial customers.”
About Deca Technologies
Deca is a leading provider of advanced packaging technology to the semiconductor industry with M-Series™ fan-out and Adaptive Patterning®. Deca has a growing list of industry leading partners working on technology transfer and license agreements to gain access to the proven structures, processes, materials, equipment, design systems, and know-how of the industry’s #1 volume fan-out technology. Starting with the highest quality and reliability in Gen 1 aimed at smartphone applications and moving on to the growth of Gen 2 for chiplets and heterogeneous integration, Deca’s technologies are emerging as key industry standards for the future. For more information, visit www.thinkdeca.com.
About SkyWater Technology
SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry. SkyWater’s Technology as a Service (TaaS) model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its world-class U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology with diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, read-out ICs, rad-hard ICs, power management, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics, carbon nanotubes and interposers. SkyWater serves growing markets including aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, cloud & computing, consumer, industrial and IoT. For more information, visit www.skywatertechnology.com/.
SkyWater Technology Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that are based on the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events, rather than past events and outcomes, and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Key factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to be different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and in other documents that the Company files with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
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