DARPA to Enhance Domestic Microchip Manufacturing

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has partnered with the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Institute for Electronics to establish a national center dedicated to advancing microelectronics manufacturing within the United States.

In line with the Next-Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing program, the initiative will focus on developing a domestic capability for researching, developing and producing 3D heterogeneous integration microsystems on a limited scale, DARPA said.

According to the agency, the center will serve as a centralized hub that will bring together stakeholders from academia, government and industry to enhance and maintain U.S. technological leadership.

Whitney Mason, director of DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, said the goal is to have an onshore, open-access center that will prototype and pilot-line manufacture 3DHI microsystems.

Mason also stressed the critical importance of sustained investment in microelectronics development. For her, the NGMM program requires a collective effort to ensure supply chain resilience and minimize reliance on overseas production.

While aligned with broader national initiatives to secure domestic microchip supply chains, NGMM is funded separately through the Department of Defense budget.