DOE Announces $160M Budget for Microelectronics Research

The Department of Energy will provide funding to help advance microelectronics research focused on energy efficiency and extreme environments.

In support of President Joe Biden’s push for U.S. leadership in semiconductor innovation, the department allocated a total of $160 million in funding to form Microelectronics Science Research Centers, contributing to ensuring a strong foundation for advancing innovation in microelectronics.

The DOE seeks proposals for initiatives engaged in four areas: new or improved materials, advanced computing paradigms and architectures, integrated sensing, edge computing and communication and processing in extreme environments, Energy .gov reported.

With microelectronics playing a vital role in every technology, the DOE has been significantly investing to improve its capabilities. It set aside about $54 million in 2021 to improve energy efficiency in microelectronics.

The funding is expected to help a key provision in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, a law signed by Biden to help the United States gain the needed capabilities for semiconductor manufacturing, workforce development and research and development.