$8 million grant sparks ‘XTREME’ project to position Idaho as leader in resilient microelectronics

With a new National Science Foundation award of nearly $8 million, Boise State University is charged with growing Idaho's strategy and capacity around resilient microelectronics for extreme environments.

The Idaho Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdiction's E-RISE project, "Capacity Building for Resilient Microelectronics for Extreme Environments" (XTREME) investigates materials behavior under high temperature, radiation and mechanical stress - conditions central to national needs in energy, defense and aerospace.

This is the State of Idaho's first E-RISE award, and it empowers Boise State to help organize a statewide strategy around research, workforce and jurisdictional development.

To accomplish this, XTREME will unite Boise State and University of Idaho with three community colleges - College of Western Idaho, College of Southern Idaho and the College of Eastern Idaho - as well as Brigham Young University-Idaho, Micron Technology and Idaho National Lab (INL) to ensure Idaho's national leadership in microelectronics.

"Boise State University has been building toward this award for over a decade, working alongside industry and government partners to create a regional hub for microelectronics research and position Idaho to lead the nation in this critical growth area," said Boise State President David Hahn. "These funds will create long-term research infrastructure, fueling graduate education, that will lead to important discoveries related to materials used in our nation's energy and defense systems. This is an important win for our university and our state."

XTREME is a collaborative effort between Boise State University and University of Idaho and builds on 20 years of partnership with INL to advance research, education and workforce development in microelectronics and related fields.

"Idaho is proving a state our size can lead the nation in the technologies that matter most to our security and our economy," said Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson. "XTREME brings together exactly the right partners - Micron's historic investment, world-class research at Boise State and the University of Idaho, and the unmatched capabilities of Idaho National Laboratory - to keep America's semiconductor edge here at home. I'm excited that this NSF investment will train Idaho students and strengthen our research infrastructure for decades to come."

The partnership is catalyzed by Micron Technology's $25 billion investment in microelectronics fabrication in Boise and the Strategic University Partnership for Education and Research (SUPER) agreement with Idaho National Laboratory, in which both universities participate.

XTREME extends Boise State University's 10 years of research in its Micron Center for Materials Research, established in 2015 through a $25 million gift from the Micron Foundation, and capacity-building with INL and the Department of Energy through the advanced sensors and instrumentation program.

The award also connects U of I's Next Generation Microelectronics Research Center (NGeM) to national research priorities, while providing critical workforce skills and hands-on research experience for students at all levels.

Micron's longstanding commitment to supporting research at Idaho universities has also helped advance U of I's NGeM research through an endowment established to provide permanent research funding for the center.

"Statewide partnerships and investments in materials, microelectronics and extreme environment science have positioned Idaho to lead this important national initiative," said Boise State University Materials Science and Engineering Professor David Estrada, principal investigator on the award. "We aim to discover materials that enable microelectronics and sensors that can survive high temperatures (greater than 1000 Celsius) and high radiation environments so we can discover new knowledge critical to the design of future energy and defense systems."

Todd Combs, the deputy laboratory director for science and technology at INL, said "Advanced reactors, defense systems and space missions all depend on electronics that can operate reliably in extreme conditions. XTREME is taking on that challenge by bringing together Idaho's research universities, community colleges, Micron and INL. We're proud to be part of this statewide partnership."

"The University of Idaho brings decades of expertise in understanding how materials behave under high temperatures, radiation and mechanical stress," said U of I co-principal investigator John Russell. "This expertise is critical to developing materials and electronic systems that can withstand demanding environments. XTREME gives us an opportunity to build on this foundation and apply U of I's strengths in materials science and engineering to the next generation of resilient microelectronics."

The team also includes a world-class advisory board with representatives from NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Department of Energy Nuclear Science User Facilities, industry and R1 universities.

Award co-principal investigators also include Boise State College of Engineering Associate Professor Krishna Pakala and Associate Professor Brian Jaques, and University of Idaho Department Chair and Professor of Metallurgical Engineering Indrajit Charit.

Boise State materials science and engineering program director Raquel Montenegro-Brown will serve as the program's director of partnerships, networks and operations to build a statewide network capable of advancing Idaho's research, economic development and workforce development efforts in microelectronics.

Boise State Division of Research and Economic Development award support staff include Center for Research and Creative Activity personnel; Senior Research Administrator, Erin Keen; Grants and Contracts Officer, Mackenzie Stout Cabot; and Senior Supervisory Sponsored Project Administrator, Jessica Foxworthy.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under award No.2546677

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

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