Discrete Integrated Circuits Electronics (DICE)

DARPA's Next Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing (NGMM) program is focused on three dimensional heterogeneously integrated technologies (3DHI). This refers to the stacking of separately manufactured components from different material systems within a single package. There is a gulf between the sophistication and investment in the chiplets that go into these packages, and obstacles in the systems around them, the Discrete Integrated Circuit Electronics (DICE) project aimed to improve their performance, reduce development times, shorten supply chains, and increase integration by developing a cross between a pick-and-place and 3D printer which can assemble VMD (volume) rather than SMD (surface) mounted devices. In this reporting period the project demonstrated DICE on CPU, MCU, CSP, and SMD scales, with examples of end-to-end workflows for their design, assembly and programming. Future work aims to focus on developing the most promising applications that have emerged.