The Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI), DARPA’s response to national-level microelectronics concerns, is designed to ensure U.S. leadership in cross-functional, next-generation microelectronics research, development, and manufacturing. The initiative, aimed at both national security capabilities and commercial economic competitiveness and sustainability, is a thematic portfolio of research programs primarily in the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). These programs emphasize forward-looking partnerships with U.S. industry, the defense industrial base, and university researchers.
DARPA expanded ERI’s focus with the announcement of ERI 2.0, which seeks to reinvent domestic microelectronics manufacturing. ERI 2.0 will strengthen DARPA’s leadership in driving the next generation of microelectronics for national security by creating a national capability for 3DHI manufacturing and pursuing focused research in:
- Manufacturing complex 3D systems
- Developing electronics for extreme environments
- Optimizing design and test for complex circuits and prototypes
- Overcoming security threats across the entire hardware lifecycle
- Increasing information processing density and efficiency
- Accelerating innovation in artificial intelligence hardware to make decisions at the edge faster
- Securing communications