Magnetic Miniaturized and Monolithically Integrated Components

The DARPA Magnetic Miniaturized and Monolithically Integrated Components (M3IC) program aims to integrate magnetic components onto semiconductor materials, improving the size and functionality of electromagnetic (EM) systems for communications, radar, and electronic warfare (EW). Current EM systems use magnetic components such as circulators, inductors, and isolators, but these are bulky and cannot be integrated with miniaturized electronic circuitry. This limits the utility of the magnetic components as well as their ability to impact overall system performance and function. Reducing the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of magnetic components and integrating them onto semiconductor chips, however, could enable broader exploitation of magnetic materials and provide new mechanisms for the control and manipulation of EM signals. For instance, tighter integration of electronic and magnetic components could yield smaller radar systems, higher bandwidth communication over longer ranges, improved jam resistance, and more resilient EW systems. The M3IC program is divided into three technical areas: integration of magnetic materials and systems with semiconductor technology; accurate and efficient modeling of magnetic phenomena from the molecular to the component system level; and exploitation of magnetic phenomena in innovative component designs relevant to EM systems that are important to DoD. This talk will cover the motivation behind the M3IC program in greater detail and will highlight selected research results.