# IHP Open PDK: a 130nm BiCMOS process kit you can actually read > IHP Open PDK publishes the full design data for IHP's SG13G2 130nm BiCMOS node under Apache-2.0, covering cell libraries, KLayout and Magic rules, device models and OpenROAD flow data. The data is genuinely open, but the project itself is labelled a preview and is explicitly not intended for production, so it suits learning, research and open tapeout work rather than a shipping ASIC. **IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK** — 130nm BiCMOS Open Source PDK, dedicated for Analog, Mixed Signal and RF Design. Documentation is here: - Repository: https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK - Website: https://ihp-open-pdk-docs.readthedocs.io - Stars: 860 · Forks: 172 - Language: HTML - License: Apache-2.0 - Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/ihp-gmbh-ihp-open-pdk ## A process kit published in full, under Apache-2.0 A process design kit is normally the most closed part of a chip project. The masks are proprietary, the device models are licensed under terms that keep them out of public repositories, and the layout rules are confidential. IHP Open PDK breaks that pattern for one specific node. The stated goal is to provide a fully open source Process Design Kit and related data, which can be used to create manufacturable designs at the facility of IHP, the institute in Frankfurt am Main. The repository targets the SG13G2 process node as of March 2023, and the documentation states that the SG13G2 node and the PDK from which this release was derived have been used to create designs that were successfully manufactured in significant quantities. The licence is Apache-2.0, which is a strong choice for hardware data because it carries an explicit patent grant. For anyone planning to publish a design or to contribute derived cell libraries, that clause matters more than the copyright grant alone. The funding is public and German. The acknowledgment section credits the publicly funded projects IHP Open130-G2 and FMD-QNC with the financial support that contributed to the work, and IHP itself is described as a non-university research establishment institutionally funded by the German federal and state governments and a member of the Leibniz Association. That is the institutional context in which an open PDK release is plausible at all: the institute gets a pilot line and research contracts, and the design data comes back to the community. ## SG13G2: SiGe HBTs at 350 GHz with a 1.2 V and 3.3 V split The node is described as a high performance BiCMOS technology with a 0.13 um CMOS process, containing bipolar devices based on SiGe:C npn-HBTs with up to 350 GHz transition frequency and 450 GHz oscillation frequency. Two gate oxides are offered, a thin gate oxide for 1.2 V digital logic and a thick oxide for a 3.3 V supply, and for both modules NMOS, PMOS and isolated NMOS transistors are provided. Passives include poly silicon resistors and MIM capacitors. The metal stack matters as much as the devices. The backend option offers five thin metal layers, two thick metal layers at 2 and 3 um thickness, and a MIM layer. For a designer choosing between a thin and a thick route, those two thick layers are the difference between an on-chip inductor that can carry real current and one that cannot, which is why the RF crowd pays attention to the layer count. The institute also reports a separate record of 720 GHz maximum oscillation frequency at IHP, a different number from the 450 GHz listed for the process, so do not conflate the two when writing a paper or a spec sheet. What the node does not offer is a modern node: at 130nm with a 1.2 V thin oxide option, this is not a node for a large AI accelerator or a modern microcontroller core. It is a node for radio frequency front ends, mixed signal blocks and analog sensors, and it competes on the BiCMOS combination rather than on density. ## What the repository actually contains: cells, rules, models The contents list reads like a checklist for a tapeout flow. A base cellset with a limited set of standard logic cells ships in CDL, GDSII, LEF and Tech LEF, Liberty, SPICE netlist and Verilog forms. An IO cellset and an SRAM cellset ship in similar formats, the SRAM set without a SPICE netlist, and primitive devices ship as GDSII. Two open source layout tools get first class support. KLayout data covers layer property and tech files, DRC rules, LVS rules, PyCells, XSection initial settings and a 2.5D viewer configuration. Magic data covers tech files, parasitic extraction rules, DRC rules and LVS rules. Device models for MOS, HBT and passive elements are provided for ngspice and Xyce, and xschem and Qucs-S each get primitive device symbols, settings and testbenches. There is also a digital stdcells entry, OpenEMS tutorials and scripts, the SG13G2 process specification and layout rules, MOS and HBT measurements in MDM format, and a project roadmap Gantt chart. The mixture of formats is the point. A mixed signal block typically wants SPICE models for the analog path, Liberty for the digital synthesis path, GDSII for the final tapeout merge, and GDSFactory for a Python based layout flow. Having all of them under one Apache-2.0 repository removes the usual problem of stitching together files that came from a foundry portal under separate terms. The measurement data in MDM format and the published process specification are what turn this from a pile of files into something you can learn from, since you can compare a model against a measured device. ## Installing through the environment Makefile and pip requirements The README does not give a one line install command for the PDK itself. It points at an Installation Guide hosted on ReadTheDocs and warns that the guide provides the download procedure and the prerequisites, with step by step instructions. That is the intended path for a first time user. For contributors and for CI, the repository ships a Makefile and a pip requirements file. The requirements pin a specific KLayout release among the Python dependencies: ```text flake8 docopt pandas klayout==0.30.5 pyyaml gdstk tqdm termcolor ``` The Makefile creates a virtual environment at the top level directory and names the paths of the two rule checkers that CI exercises: ```makefile KLAYOUT_DRC_TESTS := ihp-sg13g2/libs.tech/klayout/tech/drc/testing/ KLAYOUT_LVS_TESTS := ihp-sg13g2/libs.tech/klayout/tech/lvs/testing ``` The environment target runs python3 -m venv against the actions_venv directory and then activates it. One comment in that Makefile is worth flagging to anyone trying to reproduce the environment locally: tkinter is listed in requirements.txt but is not a PyPI package, so pip aborts the whole install, and the target warns and retries without tkinter so CI can continue. The top level entries also show that this is a submodule based layout, with a .gitmodules file and the process data under an ihp-sg13g2 directory. Clone with submodules or the tool data will be missing. The repository layout otherwise includes a Makefile, requirements.txt, versions.txt, CHANGELOG.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, a .flake8 and a .rubocop.yml, which tells you the Python tooling is linted with flake8 and the script content with rubocop. ## Supported EDA tools and the versions they were tested against The README lists the tool chain explicitly. ngspice, Xyce, xschem, Qucs-S, KLayout, GDSFactory, Magic, OpenEMS, OpenROAD, OpenROAD-flow-scripts and LibreLane are each named with a download or source link. For simulation there are two SPICE engines, ngspice and Xyce; for schematic capture xschem and Qucs-S; for layout KLayout and Magic, plus GDSFactory for a scripted approach; and for the digital and back-end half OpenROAD with its flow scripts and LibreLane. The coverage of open tools is the substantive point. A 130nm BiCMOS kit that only supported commercial tools would be open in name only. Here, an academic can run schematic capture, simulation, DRC and LVS entirely on free software, and can take the design through OpenROAD for the digital side. The exact tool versions are pinned in a separate versions.txt file at the repository root, and the README heading for that file reads Tool versions (tested with). The requirements file pins the Python side at klayout==0.30.5, so at least the KLayout version is fixed for the Python scripting layer. The gap is documentation depth in the repository itself. The ReadTheDocs site is the recommended starting point for installation, setup for supported EDA tools, device libraries, layout rules, process specifications and design flow examples, and the source of that documentation lives in a separate repository, IHP-Open-PDK-docs. The README is an index, and following the design flow examples there is where the actual learning happens. ## Preview status: the data is open but the tapeout is not cleared The most important line in this project is the status warning. IHP is currently treating the existing content as a preview only, and the documentation states plainly that while the SG13G2 node and the source PDK have produced designs that were manufactured in significant quantities, the open source PDK is not intended to be used for production at this moment. That sentence defines the boundary of the project. You can learn the process, run the full flow, design a block and contribute back. What you should not do on the strength of this repository alone is commit a production ASIC to it without talking to IHP about the manufacturing services. There is a second reason to read the warning carefully. An open PDK is a snapshot, and a snapshot can disagree with a foundry's current internal kit in cell details, model parameters or rule corner handling. The values you simulate against are the ones IHP published; whether they match the newest revision used on the pilot line is a question for the foundry, not something the repository can answer. The release history offers the same caution. There is one listed release, v0.3.0 named Open-Silicon-MPW-March2026 and dated 2026-03-11, which points at an open multi-project wafer run in March 2026. The last push was on 2026-10-20 and the repository is not archived, so work is continuing, but a single tagged release with an open silicon run attached means the versioning practice is still forming. ## How an open PDK differs from a foundry portal download The alternative to this repository is the path almost every chip project takes first: a commercial foundry portal account, a foundry PDK downloaded under a foundry license, and EDA tools that read it from a specific install path. The difference in approach is not that the data is better or worse. It is who controls it and what you are allowed to do with it. A foundry PDK arrives as a licensed package with encrypted or license-gated device models, a restrictive EULA, and support tied to the relationship with the foundry. This repository ships the same categories of data, from CDL and GDSII through Liberty and Verilog to SPICE models and layout rules, under Apache-2.0, in a git repository you can fork, branch and diff. The mechanical consequence is that the entire flow can run on the open tools listed above: xschem or Qucs-S for schematics, ngspice or Xyce for simulation, KLayout or Magic for DRC and LVS, and OpenROAD with LibreLane for the digital back end. The other difference is what happens when the data is wrong. With a closed PDK, a rule or model discrepancy becomes a support ticket to the vendor. With an open repository, it becomes an issue on a public tracker, and the contributing guide asks for changes on the dev branch with tests, so a fix reaches everyone rather than only the customers of one tool vendor. What you give up is the contractual relationship. The preview warning is the clearest expression of that. An open PDK does not come with a manufacturing guarantee attached to it, and this one states outright that it is not intended for production use. For learning, teaching, research and open silicon runs, that trade is clearly worth making. For a funded tapeout, it is a question for the institute rather than for the repository. ## Contributing on the dev branch, and how the institute fits in Contribution instructions are specific: fork the dev branch rather than main, create a new branch for your change, follow the GitHub coding standards and accompany code changes with appropriate tests. The CONTRIBUTING file holds the details. Working on dev rather than main matters for a hardware repository, because the released view of the process data and the development view can diverge, and a pull request aimed at the wrong branch can sit unreviewed. The project is supported by the publicly funded German programs IHP Open130-G2 and FMD-QNC, and the institute describes itself as one of the leading research institutions in silicon and germanium electronics, with expertise in semiconductor technology, high frequency circuit design and system solutions, and a pilot line that manufactures circuits using its high performance SiGe BiCMOS technologies. That pilot line is the practical part of the story. An open PDK without a manufacturing path is a teaching artifact, and IHP offers research and manufacturing services, which means an open source design from this repository has somewhere to go. The cost of that path is a conversation with the institute, and it is worth having it early, before a design is finished. For those who only want to learn the flow, none of this is needed. The models, the rules and the example flows can be run on your own machine with the tools listed above, and that use case is exactly what the open release makes possible. ## Conclusion Adopt IHP Open PDK if you are a student, researcher or open hardware team who needs a complete, licensed process kit for analog, mixed signal or RF work at 130nm and can live with the preview status. Do not adopt it for a tapeout you intend to fabricate, since the documentation states the open release is not intended for production use. Verify first that the versions listed in versions.txt match your installed EDA tools, that the KLayout DRC and LVS regressions in the Makefile pass against your setup, and that you can obtain the GDSII and model data under the Apache-2.0 terms for your intended distribution. ## FAQ ### Is the IHP Open PDK safe to use for a production chip? No. The documentation states that IHP is currently treating the existing content as a preview only and that the open source PDK is not intended to be used for production at this moment. The SG13G2 node itself has produced designs that were manufactured in significant quantities. ### Which process node does IHP Open PDK target? The repository targets the SG13G2 process node as of March 2023, a 0.13 um BiCMOS technology with SiGe:C npn-HBTs with up to 350 GHz transition frequency and 450 GHz oscillation frequency, and a backend of five thin metal layers plus two thick metal layers and a MIM layer. ### What licence is the IHP Open PDK released under? Apache-2.0. The Makefile carries the Apache License 2.0 header with the SPDX identifier Apache-2.0, and the repository includes a LICENSE file at the top level. ### Which EDA tools can I use with the IHP Open PDK? The README lists ngspice, Xyce, xschem, Qucs-S, KLayout, GDSFactory, Magic, OpenEMS, OpenROAD, OpenROAD-flow-scripts and LibreLane, with the exact tested versions recorded in versions.txt at the repository root. ### How do I install the IHP Open PDK? The README points to an Installation Guide on ReadTheDocs for the download procedure and prerequisites rather than giving a single command. For building and CI, the repository provides a Makefile that creates a virtual environment and a requirements.txt that pins klayout==0.30.5. ### How do I contribute to the IHP Open PDK? The README asks you to fork the dev branch of the repository, create a new branch for your contribution, follow the GitHub coding standards and include appropriate tests. The CONTRIBUTING file has the further details. ## Sources - [IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK on GitHub](https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK) - [License: Apache-2.0](https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK/blob/main/LICENSE) - [Project website](https://ihp-open-pdk-docs.readthedocs.io) - [README](https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/IHP-GmbH/IHP-Open-PDK/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/ihp-gmbh-ihp-open-pdk