THE CALIFORNIA DEFENSE READY ELECTRONICS AND MICRODEVICES SUPERHUB

About Dreams

Led by the University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute (USC/ISI), the Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (DREAMS) is one of eight regional innovation hubs established under the Department of Defense Microelectronics Commons Program. This strategic initiative is funded by the CHIPS and Sciences Act of 2022 to develop onshore microelectronics hardware prototyping.

DREAMS unites academic and commercial organizations across Southern California and our partners across the United States with three goals: maturation of advanced RF technologies for rapid prototyping, lab-to-fab transition of semiconductor technologies and training the next-generation of engineers in advanced RF and microelectronics technologies.

The pioneering USC/ISI MOSIS Multi Project Wafer (MPW) fabrication services is at the core of DREAMS. MOSIS is a transformative service that has streamlined the end-to-end prototyping of microchips for educational, commercial and national security applications for over 40 years. MOSIS 2.0 connects customers to an extensive network of state-of-the-art nanofab and foundry services, accelerating the use of advanced process and prototyping technologies within the DREAMS hub, and reducing barriers to innovation.

Unique Capabilities

  • MOSIS 2.0, the next chapter of a groundbreaking semiconductor fabrication service established at USC’s Information Sciences Institute in 1981, is the sole customer-focused prototyping platform within the Microelectronics Commons.
  • DREAMS wields unprecedented RF prototyping capabilities with over 200 of the nation’s top RF researchers and innovators to address the full scope of advanced RF prototyping for commercial and national security applications. These Industry pioneers, who launched the compound semiconductor revolution in gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), indium phosphide (InP) and beyond, are at the core of the DREAMS team.
  • The DREAMS workflow has been uniquely designed to enable accelerated prototyping with prototype process modules in two weeks; full-flow wafers in eight weeks; and RF system brassboards in 12 months.
$27
million first year funding
16+
partners
50+
affiliates
7
University Nanofab Laboratories
3
DOD-volume fab facilities

LATEST NEWS

Composite image for the IEEE Certification

California DREAMS Offers IEEE-certified Cleanroom Microcredentials

In an effort to create non-traditional pathways into the semiconductor and microelectronics workforce, the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (CA DREAMS) can now award microcredentials certified by IEEE to fellows and undergraduate students who complete its Cleanroom Gateway training program.

Graphic of image that says pipe cleaners

California DREAMS partnership solves secondary sourcing challenge

Troubleshooting for secondary source materials can often be time and labor intensive, taking up to a year to solve. In a Pipe Cleaner project, Hub partners University of California, San Diego and Northrop Grumman worked together to find a substitute process material. The promising result took months off their normal timeline.

TECHNOLOGY AREAS

  • DREAMS provides advanced RF prototyping across the full electromagnetic spectrum using state-of-the-art compound semiconductor materials, augmented with photonics and advanced CMOS technology.
  • DREAMS hosts a range of technologies to improve RF system linearity and dynamic range through the integration of state-of-the-art circuit and mixed signal architectures, including heterogeneously integrated low phase noise oscillators, amplifiers with supporting precision metrology, ultra-low phase noise electronic and laser clocks that operate well over 100 GHz, and digitization (sampling and conversion) at the fundamental thermodynamic limits.
  • DREAMS provides a range of technologies to support multi-sensor and integrated multifunction prototypes, including the integration of GaN for the RF front end, Si CMOS for direct RF sampling ADCs/DACs, and Si-photonics for power-efficient high-rate data communications.

Work with us

Interested in working with us on the future of advanced RF microelectronics? DREAMS is seeking partners, suppliers, and project participants with expertise in advanced RF technology. We are also seeking external clients looking for access to the most advanced RF capabilities for their applications. Please contact us.