Google and SkyWater have announced an upgrade to an initiative that allows open source hardware developers to make a free trial batch of the chips they develop in order to avoid the cost of producing initial prototypes. All production, packaging and shipping costs are covered by Google. Applications are accepted only from projects that are fully distributed under open licenses, not burdened by non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and not restricting the scope of their products.
The presented changes come down to providing the possibility of using the 90nm process technology instead of the previously proposed 130nm. In the near future, a new SkyWater PDK (Process Design Kit) toolkit will be published, which describes the 90nm FDSOI (SKY90-FD) process technology used at the SkyWater plant and allows you to prepare the design files necessary for the production of microcircuits. Unlike the traditional CMOS BULK process, the SKY90-FD process differs by the use of a thinner insulating layer between the substrate and the top layer of the crystal, and, accordingly, a thinner transistor design.
Source: opennet.ru