The Department of Energy will invest $160 million over four years in research projects led by national laboratories to advance microelectronics development to support energy innovation in the U.S.
DOE said Wednesday the research investment initiative will implement the Microelectronics Research for Energy Innovation Act and support the establishment of Microelectronics Science Research Centers focused on energy efficiency and extreme environments.
The department is seeking research proposals in four research areas: new or improved materials, surface processing and control, chemistry, synthesis and fabrication; advanced computing paradigms and architectures; integrated sensing, edge computing and communication; and processing in extreme environments, radiation, radiation transport and materials interaction.
The funding opportunity is open to DOE’s national laboratories and other institutions to act as subcontractors.
“This funding will ensure our labs are all in on the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole of government effort to drive the future of innovation in chips and deliver the highly efficient computing capabilities we need to power frontier AI for many years to come,” said Geraldine Richmond, undersecretary for science and innovation in DOE.