By Ross Miller, SVP Strategy, SkyWater Technology
This post is the first in a two-part article on the future of U.S. quantum manufacturing.
The United States is at a critical inflection point for technology leadership. For decades, the semiconductor industry pursued efficiency through globalized manufacturing, driving unprecedented scale and cost advantages. But that strategy also created extreme geographic concentration. Today, a majority of mixed-signal analog semiconductor production resides in Asia, a vulnerability that has become impossible to ignore.
Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, and national security concerns have brought the consequences of offshoring into sharp focus. The national conversation has rightly emphasized leading-edge digital logic, but leadership depends just as much on foundational technologies and the emerging technologies that will define the next era of computing, sensing, and secure systems.
Quantum is chief among them. It’s important to note that quantum technologies are not limited to computing alone. They also underpin next-generation communications, secure networking, and sensing systems that will shape national security, economic competitiveness, and critical infrastructure.
We now face a consequential national decision: how we invest, how we rebuild domestic capability, and how we ensure that quantum technology does not follow the same offshoring trajectory that hollowed out critical portions of the semiconductor supply chain. Getting this right now will determine not only who leads in quantum, but who controls its long-term economic and strategic value.
The Opportunity to Get Quantum Right
Quantum represents a fundamentally new technological frontier. The U.S. currently holds a strong position in early-stage quantum innovation across multiple modalities. That position, however, can change quickly.
History shows that scientific leadership alone does not guarantee long-term dominance. Without domestic manufacturing infrastructure, early innovation inevitably migrates offshore, along with talent, intellectual property, and strategic leverage. The same forces that reshaped classical semiconductor manufacturing could easily repeat themselves in quantum if action is delayed.
SkyWater operates at the intersection of this challenge and opportunity. As a Trusted U.S. foundry, SkyWater is restoring onshore capability for foundational semiconductors while simultaneously emerging as a key enabler of quantum device manufacturing. This dual vantage point, supporting mature, mission-critical technologies while enabling next-generation ones, provides unique insight into how quantum manufacturing must evolve.
Sustaining U.S. leadership will require purpose-built investment in superconducting electronics, cryogenic CMOS, photonics, and advanced packaging. These are not abstract future needs; they are essential capabilities for quantum computing, sensing, and high-performance systems. Critically, the ability to scale manufacturing, not just achieve scientific breakthroughs, will determine who ultimately leads. The same manufacturing capabilities required for quantum computing are also foundational to quantum networking, secure communications such as quantum key distribution, and advanced sensing applications, many of which are closer to deployment than large-scale quantum computers.
Quantum technologies are now entering their scale-up phase. The race is no longer only about proving feasibility; it is about who can reliably manufacture in quantity, with trust, security, and repeatability. That race is already underway.
Why Quantum Customers Are Choosing SkyWater
Despite the massive capability build-out still ahead across the broader ecosystem, SkyWater has already secured relationships with multiple quantum customers spanning several modalities. This traction is a meaningful proof point: developers are not waiting for the future; they are making manufacturing decisions now.
Customers consistently cite two differentiators.
First is SkyWater’s Technology-as-a-Service business model. Quantum developers do not simply need wafer supply; they need deep engineering collaboration. SkyWater provides access to process development, device integration expertise, and flexible, consumption-based engagement structures that enable iterative, collaborative development. This model aligns naturally with early-stage and scaling quantum programs, where requirements evolve rapidly, and risk must be actively managed.
Second is a demonstrated willingness to do new things, and the competencies to do it with sustainable quality. Quantum innovation depends on nonstandard materials, unconventional process flows, and novel device architectures. While many fabs close the door to anything outside established baselines—due to contamination risk, line disruption, or rigid business models—SkyWater has built structured pathways to safely evaluate and enable new technologies.
This includes openness to processing unconventional materials, modifying existing flows or building entirely new ones, and integrating customer-purchased or co-invested tools. The result is a foundry environment designed for innovation, not constrained by it.
Proven Process and Collaboration Capabilities That Bridge Lab and Fab
SkyWater’s role in enabling quantum technologies predates our current momentum. More than a decade of process development and collaboration at our Minnesota fab has laid a foundation for supporting early device fabrication across superconducting, photonic, and other emerging quantum technologies.
Recent superconducting electronics test chip efforts further expand this capability. These programs incorporate novel deposition and etch processes, precision techniques required for early-stage quantum structures, and flexible integration paths for unconventional materials. Combined with specialized manufacturing and testing equipment, these investments support the creation of standardized process modules and integrated platforms, which are critical building blocks for scalable quantum hardware.
Equally important, these capabilities accelerate customer learning cycles. By reducing development risk and compressing iteration timelines, SkyWater helps bridge the persistent gap between laboratory research and manufacturable devices. That bridge is where many promising technologies stall. Making it reliable is essential to scaling quantum systems beyond prototypes.
From Proof to Scale
Taken together, these capabilities explain why quantum developers are making manufacturing decisions now, and why SkyWater is already playing a meaningful role in shaping the emerging quantum ecosystem. Early traction, however, is only the beginning.
As quantum technologies move from research programs to deployable systems, the demands placed on manufacturing will grow significantly. New materials, new architectures, and new integration challenges will push beyond today’s norms. Meeting those demands will require deliberate planning, sustained investment, and a clear understanding of what quantum developers will need next.
In Part 2, we look ahead to the next phase of quantum scale-up, the manufacturing capabilities it will require, and what it will take to build a resilient, onshore quantum manufacturing ecosystem in the United States before today’s advantages are lost.