Choose a foundry by checking whether it can build your specific design on a compatible process—not by comparing node names or wafer prices first. Give each candidate the design package and requirements, then ask for a written assessment of what can be manufactured unchanged, what needs porting or requalification, and what lifecycle, capacity, quality, and commercial terms apply to your product.
What makes a foundry compatible with a legacy chip?
Compatibility depends on the process and its design environment, not simply on a label such as “mature node” or a nominal feature size. A foundry needs to confirm that the exact process revision, process design kit (PDK), device options, libraries, and intellectual-property (IP) dependencies support your design database and intended use.
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Provide the candidate with the actual design package and specify its requirements, including operating voltages, memories, analog or RF functions, reliability target, wafer size, and intended package and test flow. Ask the foundry to check design rules and identify unsupported devices or dependencies. A portfolio description is a starting point for that review, not proof that a particular project is eligible or technically compatible.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →For example, TSMC describes logic technology through 0.18-micron and specialty technologies including MEMS, CMOS image sensors, embedded NVM, RF, analog, high voltage, and BCD power. Microchip lists CMOS, BCD, embedded NVM, interposer, SOI high-voltage, CCD, and MEMS capabilities. Those published portfolios can help identify process families to investigate; neither establishes access, fit, or current availability for your design.
Can the foundry make the existing chip without redesign?
Ask for an explicit disposition: accepted unchanged, accepted with specified changes, or requiring a process transfer or port. “We support legacy designs” is not enough to establish which applies. A move may require replacing libraries or IP, physical redesign, changing process devices, re-verification, and product requalification.
If work is needed, request an engineering scope that names the affected design elements, validation and qualification plan, schedule assumptions, responsibilities, and costs. Microchip says it can transfer an existing process from another fab or university; Tower describes process transfer, development, and optimization for IDMs and fabless companies. These service descriptions do not determine feasibility for your specific design.
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How should you compare candidate foundries?
Use a common request-for-proposal checklist so candidates answer the same questions. Require written, design-specific responses and verify that proposed terms appear in the contract; the questions below are comparison criteria, not assurances that every provider offers identical terms.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →| Decision area | Questions to resolve |
|---|---|
| Process and design fit | Does the exact process revision, PDK, device set, IP, library, and design-rule set support the supplied database? What must change? |
| Engineering and transition | Who owns transfer or porting? What validation, schedule, re-verification, and requalification steps are required? |
| Reliability and qualification | What process- and site-specific qualification evidence applies to the target application and required product life? |
| Lifecycle and continuity | What product-specific supply term, change notification, last-time-buy, allocation, capacity reservation, backup-site, and migration support commitments are available? |
| Geography and traceability | Which facility will run the product? What location, traceability, and disruption dependencies apply? |
| Capacity and delivery | Is capacity reserved? What are the quoted cycle times, ramp assumptions, and remedies for delivery shortfalls? |
| Total economics | What are the mask, engineering, prototype, wafer, yield-ramp, packaging, test, logistics, capacity-reservation, and qualification costs? |
| Commercial and IP terms | What confidentiality, design-security, ownership, audit, and liability provisions apply? |
What lifecycle and supply commitments should you require?
Ask for terms tied to the exact process, site, and product: expected product lifetime, process roadmap, discontinuance notice, last-time-buy window, allocation rules, reserved capacity, backup-site arrangements, and migration or requalification support. Treat general lifecycle statements as prompts for negotiation, not guarantees for your chip.
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X-FAB’s manufacturing page quotes its CEO as saying the company ensures supply for more than 15 years and dual sourcing for its 350 nm technologies. The page does not date the statement, and the commitment is explicitly scoped to those technologies; it is not a product-specific promise for other processes. GlobalFoundries describes its Dresden site as serving long-lifecycle applications, which likewise does not establish a supply guarantee for a particular process or product.
How do you assess quality, qualification, and supply-chain visibility?
Request qualification data for the proposed process and facility, the scope of applicable certificates, change-control procedures, traceability details, failure-analysis support, and a disruption-response plan. Confirm that evidence covers the site and process named in the proposal rather than relying on a company-wide quality statement.
Rank #4
TSMC describes qualification procedures spanning technology development and mass production. Intel says its mature manufacturing wafer-fabrication, assembly/test, and logistics sites are registered to ISO 9001:2015 by a third-party registrar. Ask each supplier which of its facilities, processes, and proposed activities fall within the evidence it provides.
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Supply-chain visibility is also a practical sourcing issue. In its December 6, 2024 assessment of mature-node chips in supply chains supporting U.S. critical infrastructure, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security reported that about half of surveyed companies could not determine whether their products contained chips manufactured by PRC-based foundries. The finding is specific to that assessment and survey; it is not a measure of every company or supply chain. Ask for the manufacturing location and traceability information you need for your own obligations. BIS assessment announcement.
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When is an MPW run useful—and what does it not prove?
A multi-project wafer (MPW) run can let a team evaluate a design using shared mask costs. It is a prototype route, not evidence by itself of production qualification, yield, reserved capacity, or long-term supply. Ask whether the exact process you need is available in the proposed shuttle and how prototype results would relate to a later production flow.
Samsung describes MPW as a prototype-testing service and says its application process requests technical project details. GlobalFoundries describes MPW programs as well. Confirm current program access and process eligibility directly with the provider.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which types of foundries belong on your shortlist?
Shortlist by the design’s technical needs and the provider’s willingness to assess your actual files, rather than by brand familiarity alone. These examples are starting points, not rankings or endorsements; public capability pages may not state customer eligibility, current capacity, pricing, lead times, or process-specific access.
| Candidate type | Why investigate it | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Broad logic and specialty foundry | TSMC describes logic through 0.18-micron and specialty offerings including MEMS, image sensors, embedded NVM, RF, analog, high voltage, and BCD power. | Whether the relevant process family and exact design are available for your project. |
| Custom transfer-capable provider | Microchip says it supports custom projects on 150 mm and 200 mm wafers, lists specialty technologies, and offers transfer of an existing process from another fab or university. | Whether the proposed transfer is feasible and what engineering and validation work it entails. |
| Analog or mixed-signal specialist | Tower advertises analog process platforms, design enablement, and transfer, development, and optimization. X-FAB describes analog/mixed-signal, MEMS, SiC, and design support. | Whether the specific process modules and devices match the chip’s requirements. |
| Provider with prototype access | Samsung and GlobalFoundries describe MPW programs. | Whether the needed legacy process is in a suitable shuttle and how production qualification and capacity would be handled afterward. |
Sources: TSMC technology; Microchip foundry services; Tower corporate overview; X-FAB manufacturing; Samsung MPW service; GlobalFoundries manufacturing.
What is a practical selection process?
- Define the product requirements. Record the target process and device features, performance and reliability needs, packaging and test flow, planned production life, volumes, geography constraints, and required launch date.
- Prepare the design package. Assemble the design database, PDK and revision details, library and IP dependencies, design rules, and any verification or qualification evidence available to share under appropriate confidentiality terms.
- Request a technical fit review. Ask each candidate to state in writing whether it can accept the design unchanged, what must be modified, and what technical unknowns remain. Do not treat an initial portfolio match as acceptance.
- Scope transition work. Where changes are required, obtain the engineering tasks, owners, validation plan, schedule assumptions, requalification needs, and fees before comparing proposals.
- Compare lifecycle, quality, and delivery terms. Tie every response to the named process and manufacturing site; resolve supply continuity, qualification evidence, capacity, traceability, and disruption planning.
- Compare total cost and contract risk. Evaluate the full cost categories in the comparison table alongside IP protection, ownership, audit, liability, and delivery remedies—not just the quoted wafer price.
- Separate prototype evidence from production approval. If using MPW, define what the run will validate and what separate qualification, yield, capacity, and supply decisions remain before production.
What public information cannot settle
Public capability pages cannot determine whether a foundry will accept your particular design, provide access to required PDKs or IP, offer capacity, meet your qualification target, quote acceptable economics and timing, or contractually guarantee supply. Those answers depend on the design files, application, forecast, required production life, and direct written proposals. Verify node, capacity, program, and qualification availability for the specific site and process when sourcing.
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