The Office of Naval Research has awarded Raytheon a $6.5 million contract to develop affordable, high-performance semiconductor integrated circuits for electronic-driven military systems. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding the contract as part of its Compound Semiconductor Materials on Silicon (COSMOS) program. Dr. Mark Rosker is DARPA's program manager. A Raytheon-led team will integrate high-performance compound semiconductors with low-cost commercial complementary metal oxide semiconductor silicon wafers to achieve superior cost-benefit performance compared with either technology on its own.
"The objective is to develop a high-resolution analog-to-digital converter with low power consumption," said Dr. Katherine Herrick, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) program manager.
"However, the benefits of the program go significantly beyond the specific objective. The processes lead to advanced low-cost analog and digital, microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits with applications for next-generation radar, communications and electronic warfare systems."
"Our team's process of directly growing a compound semiconductor on a uniquely engineered silicon substrate provides a new technical approach that is creating a class of integrated circuits that will enable more affordable systems for the warfighter," said Mark Russell, vice president, IDS Engineering.
Teaming with Raytheon IDS on the COSMOS project are Raytheon Systems Limited in Glenrothes, Scotland; Teledyne Scientific Imaging Company in Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.; Paradigm Research LLC in Windham, N.H.; IQE in Bethlehem, Pa.; Soitec in Grenoble, France; and Silicon Valley Technology Center in San Jose, Calif.
