90nm Next Generation Foundry
Abstract
The Department of Defense (DoD) requires an upgrade to support 90nm semiconductor technology at the low-volume production-capable foundry at the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA). This is a critical, time-sensitive requirement to support the DoD's strategy to provide an assured (always available) and trusted source of semiconductors (microelectronic devices) for critical weapon systems, sensors, and specialized electronic equipment. This upgrade will enhance DMEA’s ability to provide one-of-a-kind advanced reconfigurable manufacturing for semiconductors to meet the time-sensitive, trusted, and low-volume operational needs of DOD, Special Ops, Cyber, Intelligence, and the Rad-Hard communities. The 90nm foundry at DMEA will be the only assured supply in the world to satisfy a multitude of critical DOD and US Government program issues for the foreseeable future. The risk of DOD not having an assured supply of 90nm technology semiconductors is increasing because there is an accelerating migration of existing domestic foundries and new foundry investments toward unsecure geographic locations due to cheap labor and favorable tax and equipment depreciation laws. The DOD must eliminate the risks inherent in producing critical DOD components in unsecure locations utilizing foreign personnel. Most domestic semiconductor foundries, other than the very largest, will not recapitalize to 90nm thereby making this technology even more difficult for the DOD to obtain in the future. The 90nm DMEA foundry is absolutely necessary to provide assured and secure microelectronics design and fabrication for trusted microelectronics systems and semiconductor components to ensure DOD technological superiority over potential adversaries. The DMEA Advanced Reconfigurable Manufacturing of Semiconductors (ARMS) foundry can be “flexed” when demand requires fabricating integrated circuit (IC) devices on different manufacturing processes with different feature sizes and technologies. The business model for DMEA’s foundry involves the acquisition of process intellectual property (IP) (i.e., specific process technology recipes) of multiple commercial processes to host in the ARMS foundry at much reduced cost in both dollars and time from that of inventing or re-developing such recipes. The ARMS foundry’s unique on-demand flexibility satisfies the DMEA mission to provide microelectronics solutions and results in "just enough, just in time” support for the low volume requirements of DoD program managers. The current DMEA ARMS foundry will accommodate technology process geometries down to 180nm (i.e., 0.18 microns). Due to physical limitations in the current DMEA lithography and fabrication equipment, the 90nm state-of-the-practice processes that need to be incorporated in the ARMS foundry require a “step function” upgrade in equipment and facilities to handle the smaller geometry feature sizes and much larger wafer starting material. Therefore, DMEA must upgrade the DMEA ARMS foundry capability to produce the next necessary generations of semiconductor process technologies down to feature sizes of 90nm. This Project will fund expenses associated with planning and implementing the 90nm facility. Initial costs will include design and trade studies, costs associated with implementing force protection standards, floor plan layout and planning activities. Further, it will fund the outfitting of the selected property with the required force protection standards, infrastructure, tenant improvements, furniture, and equipment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Project
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Source ID
- 2_0603720S_3_0400_PB_2012
Related Documents
- Root: Microelectronics Technology Development and Support (DMEA)
- Child Accomplishment: DMEA 90nm Next Generation Foundry