Goleta, California-based semiconductor firm Aeluma has secured a potential $11.7 million contract under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Material Synthesis Technologies for Universal and Diverse Integration Opportunities, or M-STUDIO, program.
The award calls for the development of heterogeneous integration technology attuned with current and future advanced-node semiconductors for potential use in artificial intelligence, mobile devices and 5G/6G wireless communication, Aeluma said Wednesday.
The contract provides $5.9 million in funding over 18 months, with the $5.7 million balance released over the next 18 months as the company achieves certain program milestones.
Teledyne’s central research laboratory is a proposed M-STUDIO award subcontractor to help identify materials and develop demonstration strategies for program metrics. Another proposed subcontractor, the University of California Santa Barbara, will assist in calibrating test devices.
Matthew Dummer, Aeluma’s technology director, called the DARPA contract a vote of confidence in the company’s potential to improve emerging technologies. “We believe this contract, along with the multiple other contract investments we have received, will accelerate Aeluma’s business traction,” he said.
Aeluma has previously secured contracts from the U.S. Navy, the Office of Secretary of Defense and the Department of Energy.