The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Google have signed an agreement to cooperate on semiconductor development for license-free, domestically produced chips to support technology and product R&D.
The chips will be manufactured in Bloomington, Minnesota, by SkyWater Technology, which has a chip foundry there. NIST, working with university researchers, will design open-source circuitry for the chips that will allow academics and small business researchers to use them “without restriction or licensing fees,” according to NIST. Google will foot the bill for the up-front production costs and subsidize the first production run of the chips.
NIST says that it could design as many as 40 different chips for various applications. Because the designs will be open-source, the agency said, “researchers will be able to pursue new ideas without restriction and share data and device designs freely.” Academic research partners which will contribute to the chip designs include Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, George Washington University, the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan.
Skywater will produce 200-millimeter silicon wafers, compatible with semiconductor processing equipment, which purchasers can then “dice into thousands of individual chips at their own processing facilities,” NIST said.
“Large companies that design and manufacture semiconductors often have ready access to these types of chips,” NIST explained in a release. “But the cost can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, presenting a major hurdle to innovation by university and startup researchers. By increasing production to achieve economies of scale and by implementing a legal framework that eliminates licensing fees, the collaboration is expected to bring the cost of these chips down dramatically.”
“By creating a new and affordable domestic supply of chips for research and development, this collaboration aims to unleash the innovative potential of researchers and startups across the nation,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie Locascio in a statement, calling the partnership “a great example of how government, industry and academic researchers can work together to enhance U.S. leadership in this critically important industry.”
NIST is hosting a virtual workshop next week on the use of chips in measurement science and prototyping, which will include a public working group meeting on its collaboration with Google. More information available here.
