Heterogeneous BiCMOS technologies and circuits and the DARPA Diverse Accessible Heterogeneous Integration (DAHI) program

The DARPA Diverse Accessible Heterogeneous Integration (DAHI) program is developing transistor-scale heterogeneous integration processes to intimately combine advanced compound semiconductor (CS) devices, as well as other emerging materials and devices, with high-density silicon CMOS technology. This technology is currently enabling BiCMOS RF/mixed signal circuits with revolutionary performance. For example, InP HBT + CMOS technology is being utilized in advanced DACs and ADCs with CMOS-enabled calibration and self-healing techniques for correcting static and dynamic errors in situ. Such CMOS-enabled self-healing techniques will more generally enable improved CS-based circuit performance and yield in the presence of process and environmental variability, as well as aging. DAHI is also expected to enable the integration of high power CS devices with silicon-based linearization techniques to realize highly power efficient transmitters. By enabling this heterogeneous integration capability, DAHI seeks to establish a new paradigm for microsystems designers to utilize a diverse array of materials and device technologies on a common silicon-based platform.