Up to $7.5M to fund semiconductor innovation at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As global reliance on electronics and digital infrastructure grows, the demand for advanced semiconductors — essential components of microchips — continues to rise. These tiny, powerful devices are at the core of everything from smartphones and computers to cars and home appliances, enabling high-speed data processing, advanced radar systems and secure communications.

A team of researchers at Penn State has been selected to receive an award worth up to $5 million award through the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Next-Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing (NGMM) program, an initiative to develop innovative semiconductor systems for the evolving demands of modern technology. Penn State will cost share up to an additional $2.5 million for this project, totaling $7.5 million in funding.

Penn State’s team, led by Madhavan Swaminathan, head and the William E. Leonhard Endowed Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and director of the Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES), will tackle challenges in semiconductor design and fabrication. Specifically, the team will focus on packaging, the science of fitting many different semiconductor components into a single device.

“The challenge in creating a microchip that is compatible with next-gen technology is packaging all the components into a small space while regulating temperature and increasing power, speed and efficiency,” Swaminathan explained. “It is like fitting a rocket engine into a shoebox but making sure it still launches without burning up the box.”

To address this, the team will emphasize the innovative use of glass packaging, which can enable improved electrical performance, better thermal isolation and is an ideal base material for the use of 3D heterogeneous integration, Swaminathan said.

The Penn State packaging research effort is part of a larger, $840 million investment by DARPA to the Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE) at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin. That initiative funds 32 defense electronics and commercial semiconductor companies and 18 universities, with Penn State being one of only six partner institutions from outside Texas.

Swaminathan attributed Penn State’s selection for the NGMM program, in part, to CHIMES’s reputation in this specialized field. The center, a Penn State-led partnership of 15 universities backed by the Semiconductor Research Corporation’s Joint University Microelectronics Program, specializes in 3D heterogeneous integration.

According to Swaminathan, this collaboration with DARPA furthers far-reaching efforts to advance microchip research and production.

Under the NGMM program, Penn State’s team will leverage its expertise to overcome key challenges in semiconductor production and design. Other key researchers on the team include Wooram Lee, associate professor of electrical engineering; Bladimir Ramos Alvarado, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Abhronil Sengupta, the Joseph R. and Janice M. Monkowski Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering; and Douglas Werner, the John L. and Genevieve H. McCain Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering.

Swaminathan will focus on 3D heterogeneous integration — a microchip manufacturing process that stacks components with different functions, such as power amplifiers, beam formers and antennas, in compact layers — and machine learning.  Werner and Sengupta will focus on advanced machine learning algorithms, Lee on radio-frequency integrated circuits and Alvarado on thermal management.

“Penn State is thrilled to be part of the TIE team,” Swaminathan said. “I am truly honored to work with my colleagues at Penn State on the development of future technologies that can revolutionize communications and reduce energy waste.”

The team will work to optimize the design process, material selection, performance predictions and fabrication for two major parts of semiconductors: wireless phased arrays and power converters. Phased arrays transmit, receive, process and precisely direct signals, such as radio waves. Power converters regulate and deliver electrical power to computer systems.

The researchers said they will pay special attention to developing advanced integrated voltage regulators, a type of circuit built directly into a package that manages and supplies precise power, voltage and current from the power converters to the chip’s components.

“The work our team is doing will have a long-lasting impact on sectors that affect us all, including national defense, telecommunications and energy,” Swaminathan said. “I see this partnership accelerating Penn State’s role as a leader in semiconductor research and preparing us for the challenges and opportunities of the future.”