In October of 2018, The Potomac Institutes Science and Technology Policy Division completed a comprehensive study examining several options to provide a contingency plan for a trusted supply of the unique state-of-the-art (SOTA) microelectronic components currently being produced by GlobalFoundries US 2 for the US Department of Defense.

This publication encompasses the executive summary, main conclusions, and recommendations summing up the Trusted State of the Art Foundry Access study. After evaluating several alternative contingencies for the GFUS2 foundry, the Potomac Institute study team recommended the development of a trusted SOTA split fabrication manufacturing capability to back up the current supply coming out of the GFUS2 fab. The split fabrication capability would have front-end-of-the-line (FEOL) production completed by a commercial supplier, and back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) production carried out at a secure Government-Owned/Government-Operated (GOGO) facility.

You can read the executive summary here.

This effort was led by Potomac Institute Vice President Dr. Michael Fritze, who is responsible for the microelectronics profile at the Institute and who has more than 30 years of experience working on issues related to hardware security. You can learn more about Dr. Fritze’s work here.

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