Beyond Scaling - Access
Abstract
The Beyond Scaling - Access program will demonstrate the design and fabrication of advanced electronics through collaborations with leading industry players. Although the United States has led the development of advanced electronics since its inception and is home to three of the five leading-edge foundries, recent investments by foreign competitors are threatening this leadership. Additionally, the fabrication cost of next generation microelectronics has increased at an alarming rate. While the commercial sector is able to spread these costs over a large volume of products, the low volumes used by the DoD has led to a cost barrier in meeting its future technology needs. In some cases, the inability to place orders in volume has created a lack of access to advanced technology nodes entirely. To address this, the DoD must participate in more industry partnerships that not only leverage investments in the commercial industry but also provide access to SOTA facilities in the U.S. This program will build on existing relationships and forge forward-looking collaborations among the commercial electronics community, defense industrial base, university researchers, and the DoD. Activities include establishing access to commercial SOTA and SOTP foundries for DoD microelectronics fabrication runs, developing a manufacturable photonics and wide bandgap process, creating a microelectromechanical systems multi-project wafer flow, and establishing an application center to capture DoD microelectronics requirements. Technologies from this program are intended for transition to the Services.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2020
- Source ID
- ae646a5b5d6cc34da79b587c58c79537