DARPA Electronics Resurgence Initiative

Page Last Updated 12/19/19

ERI Overview and Structure

In June 2017, DARPA announced the Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) as a bold response to several technical and economic trends in the microelectronics sector. Among these trends, the rapid increase in the cost and complexity of advanced microelectronics design and manufacture is challenging a half-century of progress under Moore’s Law, prompting a need for alternative approaches to traditional transistor scaling. Meanwhile, non-market foreign forces are working to shift the electronics innovation engine overseas and cost-driven foundry consolidation has limited Department of Defense (DoD) access to leading-edge electronics, challenging U.S. economic and security advantages. Moreover, highly publicized challenges to the nation’s digital backbone are fostering a new appreciation for electronics security—a longtime defense concern.

Building on the tradition of other successful government-industry partnerships, ERI aims to forge forward-looking collaborations among the commercial electronics community, defense industrial base, university researchers, and the DoD to address these challenges. There is significant historical precedent to suggest the viability of this approach, as each wave of modern electronics development has benefitted from the combination of defense-funded academic research and commercial sector investment. In the 1980s, when geometric silicon scaling started to make low-volume integrated circuit fabrication unaffordable, DARPA’s investment in the Metal Oxide Silicon Implementation Service (MOSIS) opened the door to rapid, low-cost chip manufacture, laying the foundation for the nation’s world-leading fabless design industry. In the 1990s, a combination of defense, academic, and commercial partners pioneered 193nm lithography, which became the industry critical fabrication process over the past two decades. A third wave of electronics innovation emerged as Dennard scaling ended in the 2000s, with the semiconductor industry adopting Fin Field Effect Transistors (FinFETs), a DARPA-funded innovation that drove low power computing and kicked off an era of 3D devices.

Given today’s cost, complexity, and security challenges, the nation now stands ready to collaboratively innovate a 4th wave of electronics progress. DARPA envisions four key areas of development—3D heterogeneous integration, new materials & devices, specialized functions, and design & security—each of which have been central to ERI since its inception. Leveraging 3D heterogeneous integration, the 4th wave should support continuing electronics progress despite challenges to traditional silicon scaling. This integration will enable innovators to both add new materials and devices to the silicon foundation and create specialized functions precisely designed to meet the diverse needs of the commercial and defense sectors. To manage the complexity of working in three dimensions, the 4th wave will also demand new architectures and design tools that address rising design costs, enable rapid system upgrades, and make security integration a primary design concern.

Working with ERI

As a community, ERI partners must ensure that the benefits from ERI’s 20+ DARPA-funded programs differentially accrue to the U.S. commercial and defense base. To achieve this goal, ERI programs incorporate the joint efforts of dozens of academic, commercial, and defense industry researchers and transition partners. While results to date from these collaborations, as highlighted at the 2018 and 2019 ERI Summits, point to several opportunities to promote U.S. microelectronics leadership, DARPA continuously seeks to launch new research efforts and to attract new partners.

This website aims to keep the community apprised of ERI programs, as highlighted under “Open Opportunities” and “Ongoing ERI Programs,” as well as opportunities to shape future research investments relevant to the 4th wave of electronics innovation, as highlighted under “Events Calendar.” DARPA is eager to work collaboratively with entities that will make foundational contributions to U.S. economic and national security interests – both as researchers and transition partners. Please check back regularly for updates. For general inquiries, including eligibility and participation, please reach out to ERI_page3@darpa.mil. Media questions and requests should be directed to outreach@darpa.mil.