ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The efforts described in this Program Element (PE) address the Applied Research associated with the Electronics Technology Program that is directed towards developing electronics that make a wide range of military applications possible. The PE focuses on turning basic advancements into the underpinning technologies required to address critical national security issues and to enable an information-driven warfighter. This PE also supports innovation and robust transition planning in the technology cycle by working with entrepreneurs to increase the likelihood that DARPA funded technologies take root in the U.S. and provide new capabilities for national defense. Advances in microelectronic device technologies continue to significantly benefit improved weapons effectiveness, intelligence capabilities, and information superiority. The Electronic Technology project supports continued advancement in microelectronics, including electronic and optoelectronic devices, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS), semiconductor device design and fabrication, and new materials and material structures. Areas of particular emphasis of this work include reducing the barriers to designing and fabricating custom electronics and exploiting improved manufacturing techniques to provide low-cost, high-performance sensors. Programs in this project will also greatly improve the size, weight, power, and performance characteristics of electronic systems; support positioning, navigation, and timing in GPS-denied environments; and develop sensors more sensitive and robust than today's standards. This project has six major focus areas: Electronics, Photonics, Microelectromechanical Systems, Architectures, Algorithms, and other Electronic Technology research. The Beyond Scaling Technology project pursues electronics performance advancements that exploit new concepts in circuit specialization and three-dimensional heterogeneous integration (3DHI) by the optimization of materials, devices, architectures, and designs to achieve specific circuit function at high performance. Because electronics advancements must simultaneously make progress in performance and secure the foundation on which our microelectronics infrastructure relies, this envisioned specialization will require incorporation of security safeguards and advancing manufacturing tools and process automation. Accordingly, programs within the Beyond Scaling Technology project will reduce barriers to making specialized circuits in today's silicon hardware and 3DHI by improving producibility. This will significantly increase the ease with which DoD can design, deliver, and eventually upgrade critical, customized microelectronics, particularly for operation in extreme environments. Programs also explore alternatives to traditional circuit architectures, for instance by exploiting 3DHI to optimize electronic devices and by incorporating novel materials and new techniques for securing DoD and commercial data and hardware.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2025
• Source ID: 0602716E_2_0400_PB_2025
• Change Summary Explanation: FY 2023: Decrease reflects SBIR/STTR transfer and reprogrammings. FY 2024: N/A FY 2025: Decrease reflects minor program repricing.
• Service Agency Name: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Entities

Organizations

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Tags

Readers

• Integrated Circuit Design and Technology.
• Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.

Technology Areas

• Microelectronics
• Space