New Advanced Packaging Facility Accelerates Future of Microelectronics Integration

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Draper is working toward the future of application-unique microelectronics product development with the creation of the Draper Advanced Packaging Facility to enable faster designing and building of microelectronic components.

The facility highlights Draper’s established capabilities in three-dimensional heterogeneously integrated (3DHi) microsystems, which enables the stacking of separately manufactured components into a single package and delivers advanced security, high precision, high accuracy and peak performance in harsh environments.

Each year, Draper’s facilities design, produce, test and ship microelectronics to the Defense Department and commercial customers. The new facility, based in St. Petersburg, Fla., is a Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA)-certified, trusted foundry manufacturing center.

Dr. Jerry M. Wohletz, president and CEO at Draper, said, “In answering our customers’ call for secure, mission-unique microelectronics solutions, we’ve created an advanced packaging facility that drives high-mix production of heterogenous microchips, invites production runs from open foundry customers and contributes to the nation’s supply of defense-grade microelectronics. It also provides our teams with the onshore manufacturing resources they need to continue delivering products impactful to the Draper mission.”

Domestic interest in advanced chip packaging is growing. Intel Foundry recently unveiled its U.S. Military, Aerospace and Government (USMAG) Alliance, which Draper joined. The Defense Department, through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), similarly called for the establishment of a domestic research and development center for fabrication of three-dimensional heterogeneously integrated (3DHi) microsystems. Draper’s advanced packaging center was funded in part by a $10M award from the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III office provided in 2021 to expand capacity.

The result is an open-access production facility accessible by stakeholders to holistically address the design, packaging, assembly and testing of 3DHi prototypes and products. Heterogeneous integration enables early architecture exploration, rapid software development and system validation, efficient die and package co-design, robust die-to-die connectivity and improved manufacturing and reliability.

“Our fabrication facility is a trusted partner to the U.S. government community because it is dedicated to the design, creation and implementation of vital technologies such as 3DHi which creates technology differentiation needed for mission success,” said Sarah Leeper, vice president and general manager of Draper’s Electronic Systems. “3DHi fills a unique need for the Department of Defense where mission customization and quick end-item component and manufacturing process iteration that are inherent of advanced packaging provide the flexibility not offered by high-performance standard chip design.”

The application areas essential to long-term national leadership include those for secure- and safety-critical applications and harsh environments. These applications require designing capabilities into microelectronics that are beyond the need of typical consumer electronics, computer and peripheral equipment and IoT products.

A new ecosystem is growing up around the ever-increasing variety of chiplets, which perform highly specialized functions and work together to meet the unique requirements of a given application. This arrangement enables customized packaging of different components that perform specific functions—including memory, logic, optoelectronics, communication and smart sensing—to meet any set of requirements.

Draper’s new Advanced Packaging Facility in St. Petersburg adds to recent announcements by the company to extend its long-running leadership in the defense sector’s electronics ecosystem. In March, Draper announced a partnership with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell to establish a center of research and innovation in electronic systems at the university. In 2023, Draper opened a campus in Odon, Indiana to serve customers in the defense sector, including the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.

“Like the national security customers we serve, Draper’s employees are mission-driven,” said Don Benzing, program and campus manager for Draper at St. Petersburg. “The new advanced packaging fabrication facility will support future growth in microelectronics.”

Released July 9, 2024

Draper’s new Advanced Packaging Facility is part of an effort to increase manufacturing capacity of microelectronics and accelerate the transition to an open foundry service model for the defense sector. Credit: Shutterstock.
Draper’s new Advanced Packaging Facility is part of an effort to increase manufacturing capacity of microelectronics and accelerate the transition to an open foundry service model for the defense sector. Credit: Shutterstock.
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Draper’s new Advanced Packaging Facility is part of an effort to increase manufacturing capacity of microelectronics and accelerate the transition to an open foundry service model for the defense sector. Credit: Shutterstock.
Draper’s new Advanced Packaging Facility is part of an effort to increase manufacturing capacity of microelectronics and accelerate the transition to an open foundry service model for the defense sector. Credit: Shutterstock.