SBIR-STTR Award

Lithography Cost Reduction for Rad Hard Integrated Circuits
Award last edited on: 10/27/2017

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
DOD : DTRA
Total Award Amount
$1,141,796
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
DTRA143-008
Principal Investigator
Henry I Smith

Company Information

LumArray Inc (AKA: Lumarray LLC)

15 Ward Street
Somerville, MA 02143
   (617) 253-6865
   zpal@lumarray.com
   www.lumarray.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 07
County: Middlesex

Phase I

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase I year
2016
Phase I Amount
$149,838
LumArray proposes in Phase I to demonstrate that its direct-write maskless-photolithography system, the ZP-150, is capable of performing aligned cuts in 1D-grids suitable for the 45 nm node, in addition to writing patterns of arbitrary geometry as required in custom ASICs and a wide range of other DoD and Aerospace applications. In Phase II LumArray will propose to make upgrades to its ZP-150 system that will enable it to meet the needs of 1D gridded lithography at nodes below 45 nm.

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase II year
2017
Phase II Amount
$991,958
The DoD faces mounting costs for integrated circuits built with advanced technology. Our proposal addresses mixed-signal ASIC design costs and fabrication costs, notably photomask costs and photolithography costs. The ADONIS 1D design methodology has been demonstrated at technologies ranging from 130nm to 16nm. In Phase I of the program, we used ADONIS to design a reference circuit a high-speed comparator in 16nm FinFET technology. The design was then tuned for Complementary E-Beam Lithography. The result was a 34% reduction in the number of exposures needed by the CEBL system, which would translate directly into reduced patterning time. The comparator design was released for fabrication at 16nm through the DARPA CRAFT program. In Phase II we are proposing to extend the work to include 200 logic cells, an SRAM instance, 20 mixed-signal functional blocks, a DICE-like differential amplifier, analog and digital circuits to implement chip specific writing, and a high-performance analog front end. The comparator from Phase I will also be bench tested. A testchip will be designed to demonstrate compatibility with the CEBL equipment. Finally, we look forward to Phase III in which we can productize our work with a DoD contractor partner like Northrup Grumman (our prime