NASA Awards Grant to Ozark Integrated Circuits for Design Process Model

Courtesy of NASA Glenn Research Center

A 4-bit digital-to-analog converter in the NASA-Glenn silicon carbide process.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – NASA has awarded $124,982 to Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc., a technology firm affiliated with the University of Arkansas, to create a fabrication process model for the design of complicated circuits that would operate for thousands of hours in very high temperatures.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center developed a silicon-carbide technology suited for long-term monitoring and control of systems at temperatures exceeding 500 degrees Celsius – such as those found on the surface of Venus or inside a jet engine.

Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc., which designs semiconductors at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, will build on NASA’s research with a process design kit that will contain high-fidelity models, design rules and best practices for developing more complicated circuits, said Matt Francis, the company’s president and chief executive officer.

The NASA grant will also support the design of an integrated circuit – a general-purpose communication link – that will prove the design kit works, Francis said.

“Ozark IC has created process design kits for other extreme environments,” Francis said. “The industry-standard RS-485 communication link, which will also demonstrate the scalability of the technology, enables digital data to be transmitted in both directions. The link is a key building block in remote monitoring and control.

“At the application level, any system that needs to get information to or from a very hot location to a very cool location can make use of the RS-485 link in this technology,” Francis said. “The techniques we will develop will vastly reduce the cabling required and decrease noise. This is very important in aerospace applications where every gram of mass counts.”

The project builds on the long-term collaboration between Ozark IC and the U of A’s Mixed-Signal Computer Aided Design Laboratory. The U of A’s High Density Electronics Center, also located at the research park, will be utilized for device packaging and measurement on this project.

The NASA Phase I contract came through the Small Business Innovation Research Program, which allows federal agencies to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening small businesses that meet federal research and development needs. The program also is intended to increase the commercial application of federally supported research results.

About Ozark IC: Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company spun out of research at the University of Arkansas and is headquartered at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park. Its expertise consists of design of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for extreme environments – high and low temperatures and radiation.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.