3.8 Microelectronics

3.8.1 Warfighter Needs

The warfighter has become critically dependent on the ability of systems to collect and process information and thereby effect force multiplication through remote and distributed awareness and control. Technology for sensing, processing and computing information from the battlespace is strongly dependent upon microelectronics technology; hence this technology strongly supports the areas of Dominant Battlespace Environments, Information Warfare, Precision Force, Combat Identification, Electronics Warfare, and Joint Theater Missile Defense, along with significant support of Counterproliferation, Chemical and Biological Warfare Detection, Joint Countermine, and Joint Readiness. Key military equipment to achieve these capabilities, such as sensor packages, satellites, and man-portable communication equipment, need to meet stringent military requirements (e.g., radiation and high temperature environments, extended operating lives, lower weight, and high performance) in order achieve these capabilities in the range of potential environments and situations. Another crucial factor affecting DoD's ability to provide superior capabilities to the warfighter is the cost of electronic systems, which depends directly on the producibility, quality, and cost of microelectronic devices, circuits, and fabrication technologies. Over the short term (1-2 years), electronic systems enabled by microelectronics should double the capability for processing information in the battlespace, while reducing cost, power consumption and weight by a factor of two. In the midterm (3-5 years), it is expected that microelectronics will enable a doubling of sensing resolution, range and/or speed; reduce power consumption by a factor of 10; and reduce weight by a factor of 10. In the long term, microelectronics innovations should enable an order of magnitude improvement in the range of sensing capabilities, while decreasing cost, power consumption and weight by more than a factor of 100. The technologies for signal conversion and processing, low-power, radiation resistant microelectronics, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) all have the potential to significantly increase the capabilities of weapon platforms and information systems, while simultaneously decreasing their size, weight, cost and assembly complexity. The dramatic rate of microelectronics technology innovation has also created the need to ensure that the warfighter has access to current state-of-the-art microelectronics in order to sustain superiority. Toward that end, the rapid transition of new technology to the industrial base and insertion of new (possibly commercial) technologies into military systems will continue to play an increasingly important role in meeting future warfighter needs.

3.8.2 Microelectronics Overview

The Microelectronics technology subarea makes use of electronic materials technologies (e.g., silicon and its compounds, gallium arsenide and other III-V compounds) to support a number of key DoD applications, including digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters (DACs and ADCs); direct digital synthesizer (DDS) devices; high temperature and high power silicon carbide (SiC) devices and circuits; radiation-hardened devices and circuits; and MEMS.

3.8.2.1 Goals and Timeframes. The Microelectronics subarea develops device, circuit, and fabrication technologies to realize digital, analog, and mixed-signal integrated circuits that are needed for introduction in a timely and planned fashion into weapons systems to ensure superiority over our adversaries. Specific goals include:

3.8.2.2 Major Technical Challenges. Military systems continuously require increased information processing capability, but state-of-the-art commercial IC processes and products are designed primarily to maximize profits, usually at the expense of characteristics such as high frequency, low power, ultra-miniaturization, and radiation or temperature tolerance. Specific challenges include: reducing circuit power by two orders of magnitude while simultaneously increasing performance; providing devices and circuits capable of reliable operation at very high temperature; developing affordable radiation-hardened VLSI device technology for low-to-moderate quantities of military memory devices and signal processors; achieving sensitivities and stabilities in MEMS accelerometers or gyroscopes that are required for inertial navigation on a chip (three to four orders of magnitude better than the best available today); and driving the development of MEMS technology to the densities of integrated electronics and mechanics needed to provide single-chip implementation of a full inertial navigation function.

3.8.2.3 Related Federal and Private Sector Efforts. Annual commercial semiconductor sales now exceed $100B and there are a number of technology development efforts (mostly oriented towards products in the very short term) in areas such as low power, increased speed and density, and more affordable manufacturing. Development of high performance conversion devices is being done by Analog Devices, GE, IBM and TI. There are MEMS activities at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and U.C. Berkeley.

3.8.3 S&T Investment Strategy

3.8.3.1 Technology Demonstrations. None

3.8.3.2 Technology Development. The Microelectronics investment is focused on a broad range of goals. In addition to the efforts focused on SE.25.01.NFE, High Performance Microelectronics for Signal Processing and Computing, and SE.27.01.E, Micro-electromechanical Systems, there are efforts aimed at increasing microelectronic density by 4x and speed by 50% using 0.18 m feature size processing (mask repair and mainstream process flows). A 0.13 m lithography capability is being explored (electron-beam and x-ray) which will increase density by eightfold and double the speed of operation. The following microelectronics efforts are being pursued to meet the microelectronics defense technology objectives:

3.8.3.2.1 High Performance Microelectronics for Signal Processing and Computing. DTO SE.25.01.NFE. Novel silicon and III-V devices are being developed from materials such as SiGe, SiC, TFSOS, GaAs, and GaN. These novel devices will be used to achieve low power SOI circuits and high performance circuits and applications (e.g., high temperatures, high speed data and signal processing, high speed/low power ADCs and DACs).

3.8.3.2.2 Radiation Resistant Microelectronics. DTO SE.26.01.AFH. Fabrication capabilities are being developed to produce state-of-the-art radiation resistant microelectronics. Investment is focused on leveraging commercial advances in the fabrication of microelectronics to produce key military components with performance and density close to commercial devices, yet able to withstand the sever radiation environment of space and strategic applications.

3.8.3.2.3 Microelectromechanical Systems. DTO SE.27.01.E. Reliable, repeatable MEMS-specific fabrication techniques are being developed. These techniques will be fed into developing MEMS devices and circuits that integrate sensing, actuation, computation, communication and control components.

3.8.4 Basic Research

The DoD basic research (6.1) investment in microelectronics is concerned with developing novel processes, devices and circuits using innovative materials and physical mechanisms. Key materials effort aimed at developing high quality semiconductor materials has made substantial progress in providing critical, military-unique device technology. Work in the areas of quantum transport, nanoscale electronics, mesoscale devices, surface and interface physics, and superconductors continues to provide the technology depth that DoD needs to sustain superiority in applied microelectronics and, most importantly, minimize the likelihood that a foe will be able to discover and exploit some new approach to effect technological surprise and defeat our fielded capabilities.