ThermaView Archives - Skywater Technology

By Ross Miller, SVP Commercial and A&D Business

SkyWater recently unveiled ThermaView^℠ Solutions, a new brand that redefines what’s possible in thermal imaging. This launch is more than just a product announcement; it’s a milestone in our commitment to innovation and solving complex challenges for industries such as aerospace, defense, industrial automation, automotive, and medical devices.

Thermal imaging is no longer a niche capability—it’s a cornerstone of innovation, enabling advancements in safety, energy efficiency, and healthcare. With ThermaView, SkyWater is stepping up to meet these challenges head-on, offering solutions that are tailored to meet the needs of today’s most demanding applications.

Solutions for Focal Plane Arrays and ROIC Development

ThermaView isn’t just a single product; it’s a suite of solutions designed to support hybridized focal plane arrays (FPAs) and monolithically fabricated microbolometer FPAs for uncooled imaging. Whether you’re designing high-sensitivity readout integrated circuits (ROICs) or exploring next-generation microbolometer applications, ThermaView Solutions delivers exceptional flexibility and performance.

S90LN: CMOS Technology Built for Thermal Imaging ROICs

Figure 1: ThermaView Solutions are tailored to the unique needs of thermal imaging designs and support read-out ICs for cooled and uncooled applications as well as microbolometer development and production services

At the heart of this platform is S90LN, SkyWater’s advanced 90nm CMOS technology tailored for ROIC applications. S90LN enables ROIC designs to support FPAs with low-noise performance, high dynamic range, and scalable pixel pitch, ensuring they can meet the demands of everything from mission-critical defense systems to precision medical devices. Unlike general ASIC platforms that require workarounds, S90LN is purpose-built for ROIC designers, eliminating compromises and enabling best-in-class performance.

ThermaView Solutions also support custom microbolometer development and production, offering designers the ability to monolithically integrate ROICs with microbolometers. This capability allows for seamless design optimization and faster time-to-market.

Bridging Market Gaps and Meeting Emerging Thermal Imaging Demands

The thermal imaging industry is evolving rapidly, yet traditional solutions often leave designers with limited options. Many foundries provide CMOS platforms that were never intended for ROIC applications, forcing designers to accept workarounds that compromise performance. With ThermaView Solutions, SkyWater is changing the game by delivering technology and services designed specifically to meet the unique requirements of thermal imaging systems.

This shift comes at a crucial time. As autonomous vehicles, energy efficiency initiatives, and healthcare diagnostics drive new demands for thermal imaging, the need for tailored solutions has never been greater. ThermaView addresses these emerging demands ensuring that designers have the tools they need to create impactful solutions across industries.

Real-World Applications Powered by ThermaView

The versatility of the ThermaView solutions is evident in its ability to support designers in creating ROICs tailored to meet the demands of diverse industries. In defense and aerospace, where reliability is critical, ThermaView enables the development of high-performance ROICs for thermal imaging systems used in situational awareness and targeting. These systems can operate in extreme environments, making them indispensable for mission-critical applications.

In industrial automation, designers can leverage ThermaView’s solutions to create ROICs for real-time thermal monitoring, enabling predictive maintenance and process optimization. This helps reduce downtime and improve operational efficiency. Similarly, in the automotive sector, the evolution of safety systems like Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) depends on advanced thermal imaging technologies. By providing solutions optimized for high-performance microbolometers and ROICs, ThermaView empowers designers to meet these regulatory and performance challenges.

Thermal imaging’s impact extends to healthcare, where it supports the creation of ROICs for applications like early diagnostics, wearable health monitoring, and advanced medical imaging systems. Sustainability initiatives also benefit from the thermal imaging innovations enabled by ThermaView, including detecting heat loss in buildings, optimizing solar panel performance, and improving energy efficiency.

Why Choose SkyWater for Your Next Thermal Imaging Project?

SkyWater’s approach sets ThermaView apart. As a secure, U.S.-based Trusted foundry, we provide the confidence and reliability needed by the defense and aerospace industries. But it’s not just about security—it’s about collaboration. We work closely with our customers to co-create solutions that meet their specific needs, delivering a level of customization that off-the-shelf alternatives simply can’t match.

Future Enhancements: What’s Next for ThermaView

While ThermaView is already setting new standards in domestic thermal imaging technology development, we’re not stopping here. SkyWater is planning a series of enhancements to the S90LN platform, including improved noise performance, yield, and reliability. These updates which will be qualified and released to the market through 2025 and 2026 will enable FPAs with even greater sensitivity, dynamic range, and mission lifetimes.

We’re also expanding our focus to include derivatives of the S90LN platform tailored for high-volume automotive and industrial applications. These enhancements will not only optimize performance but also support the scalability required for these growing markets.

Collaboration is at the core of everything we do. Through our Technology as a Service business model, we’re fostering partnerships that drive innovation and bring new thermal imaging applications to life.

Join Us on the Journey

ThermaView isn’t just a product, it’s solutions designed to transform industries and solve real-world problems. Whether you’re developing cutting-edge defense systems, advancing medical diagnostics, or improving energy efficiency, ThermaView offers tools and technologies you need to succeed.

We invite you to explore the possibilities. Visit our website for more details or connect with us to learn how ThermaView can address your specific challenges. Together, let’s push the boundaries of what’s possible in thermal imaging.

Initial offering of 90nm CMOS technology will enable the unique design requirements of advanced ROICs in aerospace and defense, automotive and beyond

Thermal cameras market projected to grow to $9B in 2029 according to Yole report

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – January 15, 2025 – SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, today announced the launch of ThermaView^℠ Solutions, a complete suite of services and technologies designed to meet the evolving needs of thermal imaging system designers. These solutions will deliver capabilities to support development and production of state-of-the-art, large-format focal plane arrays for aerospace and defense as well as broad-market industrial and automotive designs. A focal plane array, at the heart of thermal imaging cameras, captures thermal radiation and converts it into electrical signals to form an image.

SkyWater’s ThermaView technology offerings will span CMOS platforms for cooled and uncooled read-out ICs (ROICs), while also supporting microbolometer technologies in uncooled thermal imaging applications. By addressing the unique requirements of these markets, SkyWater continues to drive innovation and provide tailored U.S.-based solutions that empower customers to achieve their design and performance goals across diverse thermal imaging systems.

The initial ThermaView platform offering will be SkyWater’s recently qualified 90nm CMOS process. Referred to as S90LN, the ROIC-centric platform provides industry-leading low noise performance with process design kit (PDK) enabled support for large format die. S90LN is the most advanced domestic semiconductor platform specifically tailored for ROIC applications, enabling high-density routing technology to increase pixel density for high-resolution designs. Furthermore, ROIC chips made on SkyWater’s S90LN technology have been thoroughly characterized and are suited to perform reliably in extreme conditions and withstand significant radiation effects encountered in high altitude and space applications.

Thermal imaging camera systems are used across a wide range of applications including defense targeting systems, threat detection and various low-light imaging systems as well as for industrial surveillance, autonomous vision systems and factory process monitoring. ThermaView ROICs are bonded to focal plane arrays, providing conditioning of focal plane array signals and offering unique features which enable multi-spectral imager systems to perform with higher resolution, higher-dynamic range and increased sensitivity. These features address a range of specific needs across various industries to meet the growing demands of the thermal cameras market, which is projected to be $9 billion by 2029, according to a “Thermal Imaging and Sensing 2024” report by Yole Intelligence.

High-density routing technology, a key enabling feature of SkyWater’s S90LN platform, maximizes pixel density with two local interconnect layers enabling short, efficient connections between transistors that perform like an additional routing layer, without the need for vias. The platform enables designers to pack as many features as possible into each pixel, allowing up to 15% area improvement in chip density as compared to 90 nm technology with a conventional contact layer.

“We recognize the importance of supporting our warfighters and the wider industrial focal plane array community,” said Ross Miller, SVP of Commercial and A&D business. “With ThermaView, we’re demonstrating our commitment to meet the particular needs of ROICs today, while anticipating the needs of this market tomorrow. Our solutions come with a reliable supply chain that ensures long-term availability, empowering our partners to confidently develop the next generation of thermal imaging systems.”

Commenting on the announcement, Pat Richardson, engineering director at Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS), an RTX business and SkyWater customer, said, “SkyWater has been working to mature its process to meet our challenging requirements. Their dedication to pioneering innovative solutions underscores their focus on meeting industry demands and ensuring reliability in our systems.”

As a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Supplier, SkyWater provides ThermaView ROIC solutions to meet the unique requirements of the aerospace and defense sector, addressing a critical need of the defense industrial base for domestically sourced solutions. Furthermore, SkyWater’s existing IATF16949 automotive certification offers a strong foundation for production support in the growing automotive and industrial markets.

The S90LN PDK is available now. For more technical details and other information on how SkyWater is driving domestic thermal imaging systems with innovative ROIC solutions, please visit www.skywatertechnology.com/thermaview-roic or contact sales@skywatertechnology.com.

About SkyWater Technology
SkyWater (NASDAQ: SKYT) is a U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer and a DMEA-accredited Category 1A Trusted Supplier. SkyWater’s Technology as a Service model streamlines the path to production for customers with development services, volume production and heterogeneous integration solutions in its U.S. facilities. This pioneering model enables innovators to co-create the next wave of technology within diverse categories including mixed-signal CMOS, read-out ICs, rad-hard ICs, MEMS, superconducting ICs, photonics and advanced packaging. SkyWater serves the growing markets of aerospace & defense, automotive, biomedical, industrial and quantum computing. For more information, visit www.skywatertechnology.com/.

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ThermaView

ThermaView℠: Redefining Thermal Imaging Technologies for High-Impact Applications