Skywater the US foundry supported by the Department of Defence has started installing tools for its $170 million fab expansion.

The DOD’s investment was made under the Trusted and Assured Microelectronics (T&AM) program which is developing enhanced sources of microelectronics for the Department’s unique needs.

The T&AM program seeks to collaborate with industry and key laboratory partners to provide sustainable, assured technology solutions for national security and defense.

Less than a year ago, SkyWater announced a multi-phase project to enhance microelectronics capabilities for the DOD and the Strategic Rad-Hard market by expanding its DOD-accredited facility.

The expansion will also support complementary technologies for commercial applications in extreme environments such as space and medical imaging. SkyWater is planning to launch its first Early Access Program MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) shuttles before the end of 2020.

Additionally, the expansion will enable SkyWater to add copper (Cu) interconnect process technology for enhanced mixed-signal device performance and interposer offerings for advanced packaging. The new Cu interconnect capability will also be critical in supporting the company’s roadmap for more advanced node geometries beyond 90 nm and aligns well with the growing need for domestic advanced packaging solutions.