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Northrop Grumman wins $7m DARPA contract to create diamond-cooled chips
Northrop Grumman has won a $7 million DARPA contract to develop diamond-cooled chips for military radar and communications, advancing Phase 2 of the THREADS program aimed at integrating diamond heat-dissipation technology into next-generation semiconductors. The award targets defense-grade RF electronics where overheating currently limits power, chip life, and circuit reliability. Diamond conducts heat five times faster than copper and far outperforms silicon carbide and gallium nitride (GaN), the current standard for high-performance applications. In Phase 1, Northrop Grumman boosted power density by 3.3x; Phase 2 aims to triple that again, enabling far stronger RF transmitters for military communications and satellite links. “Temperature has long capped what microelectronics can do, even GaN,” said Ben Heying, director of microelectronics at Northrop Grumman’s Space Park Foundry. “Embedding diamond directly into chips works like a turbocharged cooling system. It keeps the chips cool, so we can crank up the power without risk of burnout.” At the company’s Microelectronics Center in Redondo Beach, California, microscopic diamonds are added directly into RF circuits. Northrop Grumman partnered with Stanford University to grow a diamond layer on the backside of the device within microscopic channels, transferring heat away from hotspots. The firm recently completed successful high-power tests using diamond as a semiconductor material. Phase 2 will make these diamond-enhanced chips over three times more powerful while taking up less space, unlocking next-generation satellite links and a broad spectrum of future applications. The effort builds on Northrop Grumman’s diamond technology research and investment started in 2019, capitalizing on diamond’s unrivaled heat conductivity and extreme temperature endurance to pave the way for mission-critical semiconductors.