Major milestone toward commercialization of Weebit ReRAM at SkyWater lays groundwork for customers to confidently design innovative and highly differentiated SoCs
HOD HASHARON, Israel and BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Nov. 8, 2022 – Weebit Nano Limited (ASX:WBT), a leading developer of next-generation memory technologies for the global semiconductor industry, and SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, announce the first silicon wafers integrating Weebit’s embedded Resistive Random-Access Memory (ReRAM) module have been delivered to Weebit from SkyWater’s U.S. production fab.
This is the first time silicon wafers of Weebit ReRAM have been received from a production fab, a major milestone toward commercialization of the technology at SkyWater.
Manufacturing of Weebit ReRAM is now proven with standard tools and a mature process flow, making it easy for customers to adopt this innovative non-volatile memory (NVM) for development of their system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The silicon wafers will be sliced into chips, packaged, and then tested and qualified.
The chips, which were manufactured in SkyWater’s 130nm CMOS process, will be used for customer demonstrations, testing and prototyping ahead of commercial orders and volume production, allowing customers to confidently start designing SoCs using these ReRAM modules.
SkyWater’s 130 nm process has been used reliably for billions of devices made for automotive, industrial and consumer applications. The automotive-grade, extended temperature, mixed-signal CMOS platform is well suited for IoT and edge computing as it enables a combination of both digital and analog circuit performance with embedded NVM for a wide range of SoC architectures.
Coby Hanoch, CEO of Weebit Nano, said: “This is the first time we’ve received ReRAM wafers from a production fab – a huge milestone towards commercialization that has been achieved on-time through our close partnership with SkyWater. This increases the confidence of potential customers in our IP, pushing forward companies interested in engaging with us, and we’re seeing discussions with potential customers ramping up as we get closer to production. The demo chips produced by SkyWater integrating Weebit’s ReRAM module are enabling these companies to see the true advantages our technology can provide.”
SkyWater Chief Revenue Officer, Mark Litecky, said: “As part of our Technology-as-a-Service model, SkyWater works with customers to co-create solutions with innovative architectures, materials and approaches to integration. Weebit ReRAM is an exciting new NVM that customers across a broad array of markets can incorporate into their SoCs to achieve differentiation. We already see strong interest for the technology for applications including IoT, power management and mixed-signal ICs. Looking ahead, Weebit ReRAM is a rich building block for hybrid architectures that can be flexibly integrated in new and interesting ways – an exciting prospect for companies looking to bring innovative ideas to reality.”
The demo chips comprise a full sub-system for embedded applications, including the Weebit ReRAM module, a RISC-V microcontroller (MCU), system interfaces, memories and peripherals. Weebit’s embedded ReRAM module includes a 256Kb ReRAM array, control logic, decoders, IOs (Input/Output communication elements) and error correcting code (ECC). It is designed with unique patent-pending analog and digital smart circuitry running smart algorithms that significantly enhance the memory array’s technical parameters. It also supports an extended temperature range, 10 years’ data retention at high temperatures, fast access time, and extremely low standby power.
Full qualification of the highly integrated demo chips in SkyWater’s U.S. production fab is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.
Weebit ReRAM IP is available in SkyWater’s 130nm CMOS process. SkyWater customers should contact their representative to learn more about how to get started on their design. For more information, visit: www.skywatertechnology.com/ip-partner-weebit-nano.
About SkyWater Technology
SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-owned semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Foundry. SkyWater’s Technology as a ServiceSM 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, ROICs, 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.
About Weebit Nano Limited
Weebit Nano Ltd. is a leading developer of next-generation semiconductor memory technology. The company’s ground-breaking Resistive RAM (ReRAM) addresses the growing need for significantly higher performance and lower power memory solutions in a range of new electronic products such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smartphones, robotics, autonomous vehicles, 5G communications and artificial intelligence. Weebit’s ReRAM allows semiconductor memory elements to be significantly faster, less expensive, more reliable and more energy efficient than those using existing Flash memory solutions. As it is based on fab-friendly materials, the technology can be quickly and easily integrated with existing flows and processes, without the need for special equipment or large investments. See www.weebit-nano.com and follow us on https://twitter.com/WeebitNano.
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