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At the most advanced nodes, semiconductor innovation is driven less by individual breakthroughs and more by the efficient application of process technology.
That efficiency increasingly depends on process design kits (PDKs) — the critical interface where foundry technology, EDA tools, and customer outcomes converge.
This is precisely where the Synopsys–Intel Foundry collaboration is most focused.
As Intel Foundry pushes into the Angstrom era — marking a shift beyond nanometer‑class scaling toward near‑atomic dimensions — with process nodes such as Intel 18A and Intel 14A, the role of PDKs has expanded from basic enablement to full‑stack orchestration of design, analysis, and manufacturing readiness.
“A PDK is essentially the building block for the foundry and for the process technology,” says Jonathan Knudsen, senior principal engineer at Intel Foundry. “It’s all of the EDA components and collateral that enable customers to take their ideas from concept to silicon and ultimately to high‑volume manufacturing.”
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Creating gateways to advanced nodes
Delivering a PDK at this level is not incremental work. Advanced nodes introduce features that fundamentally alter physical design assumptions — backside power delivery, new routing constraints, tighter thermal margins, and increasing coupling between process and performance.
“Anything that’s missing or incomplete leads to escapes, silicon churn, and redesign,” Knudsen says. “We can’t have any of that. Everything has to be rock solid.”
That rigor is why Intel Foundry and Synopsys work closely across the full EDA stack. PDKs developed jointly between the two companies integrate construction, timing, extraction, and signoff-grade multiphysics analysis, enabling customers to move from design to manufacturing with confidence.
“Synopsys partnering with us has enabled a very rich series of technology components,” Knudsen says. “Historically, having all of those pieces working together was a problem. That’s no longer the case.”
Unlocking differentiation and innovation
PDKs are not downstream artifacts. They define whether a technology can be designed efficiently and whether its most advanced features can be effectively implemented. That’s why early, deep EDA–foundry collaboration is essential.
“When you’re working on something as complex as an angstrom-class process, early decisions have a long ripple effect,” says Venkat Ramasubramanian, senior director of design technology platforms at Intel Foundry. “And if the tools don’t have the capability to express the innovation, customers are not going to get the full benefit.”
Backside power delivery provides a fitting example. As one of Intel Foundry’s most distinctive innovations, PowerVia required new physical design, routing, and verification approaches to be embedded directly into PDK content and exposed coherently across the full design flow.
“Working closely with Synopsys, we were able to unlock that differentiation for customers,” Ramasubramanian says. “They could actually see it and realize it in their designs.”
From a customer’s perspective, that realization matters more than the innovation itself. If advanced process capabilities are not reflected early in PDKs — and validated through signoff — they remain theoretical advantages.
By aligning technology definition with tool innovation from the outset, the risk shifts away from customers, enabling new nodes to deliver practical, usable differentiation in production design.
Accelerating adoption
As Intel Foundry expands its customer base, minimizing the friction of adoption has become a strategic priority.
“One of the key pillars for new Intel Foundry customers is ease of use,” Ramasubramanian says. “With Synopsys tools, designing into Intel Foundry becomes second nature.”
PDKs play a central role in delivering that experience. By encoding Intel Foundry technology directly into established Synopsys flows, PDKs allow customers to adopt new nodes without changing how they design, verify, and sign off chips — turning process innovation into immediate, usable capability.
That is why PDKs sit at the center of the Synopsys–Intel Foundry collaboration — bridging what’s possible in silicon with what’s achievable in practice.
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