The company Skywater announced the modernization of the initiative that allows open hardware developers to make a trial batch of chips that they have developed in order to avoid costs for the production of initial prototypes. All costs for production, packaging and delivery are taken by Google. Applications are accepted only from projects completely distributed under open licenses, not burdened by non -disclosure agreements (NDA) and not limiting the scope of their products.
The submitted changes are reduced to the provision of the possibility of using the 90nm process process instead of the previously proposed 130nm. In the near future, the new tools of Skywater PDK (Process Design Kit), describing the 90nm FDSOI (SKY90-00NM FDSOI (SKY90- FD) and allowing you to prepare the design files necessary for the production of microcircuits. Unlike the traditional CMOS BULK process, the Sky90-FD process is distinguished by the use of a thinner insulating layer between the substrate and the upper layer of the crystal, and, accordingly, the thinner performance of transistors.