DARPA’s THz Electronics Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently awarded contracts for innovative research proposals under its Terahertz (THz) Electronics Program. The program solicited proposals that offer innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in electronic devices and integrated circuits achieving THz frequencies (at least a trillion cycles per second). The program will work to develop technologies such as THz transistor devices and integrated circuits and THz high power amplifier modules for military application.

Commenting on the THz Electronics program, Dr. Mark Rosker, program manager of DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, said: 

“The THz Electronics Program will develop a technology for integrated circuits operating at far higher frequencies than ever possible before. This will be crucially important for emerging applications like terahertz communications and radars. But of potentially even greater consequence, this program will drive the state of the art in high performance III-V electronics, with vast implication to RF circuits and systems operating at more conventional (microwave and millimeter-wave) frequencies.”

Contracts and Key Events

So far, DARPA has awarded 4 contracts under the THz program. Note that “metrology” is the science of measurement.

May 6/09: Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, CA received an $18.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to develop transceiver arrays; specifically, receivers and exciters at carrier frequencies of 670 GHz, 850 GHz, and 1030 GHz (HR0011-09-C-0060).

April 3/09: Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (formerly, Space and Mission Systems) in Los Angeles, CA received a $37 million contract for development of military and space satellites’ active receivers and transmitters operating at 670 gigahertz that ensure transmission of high-resolution images and other applications (HR0011-09-C-0062). 

April 3/09: DARPA awards Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems an $8.9 million contract to develop and demonstrate technologies for high power amplification (HPA) of THz signals in compact HPA modules. These include demonstration of a power amplifier device capable of amplifying radiation at THz frequencies, the development of a compact THz HPA module (including an antenna and the ability to integrate with a solid-state exciter circuit), and THz metrology (HR0011-09-C-0061).

April 1/09: DARPA awards SAIC an $11.6 million contract to develop and demonstrate technologies for high power amplification (HPA) of THz signals in compact HPA modules. These include demonstration of a power amplifier device capable of amplifying radiation at THz frequencies, the development of a compact THz HPA module (including an antenna and the ability to integrate with a solid-state exciter circuit), and THz metrology (HR0011-09-C-0063).

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