UA receives $3.5 million for electronics research, facility upgrades

The University of Arkansas announced Tuesday (Feb. 17) that it has received $3.5 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The federal award will allow the High-Density Electronics Center to upgrade its facility and become a Power Packaging Center of Excellence.

The center is located at 700 W. Research Center Blvd. in the UA’s Arkansas Research and Technology Park in south Fayetteville.

According to a news release, an example of power packaging comprises the components inside a smartphone charging block that convert AC into DC electricity to charge the phone’s battery. Power packaging is built around a semiconductor material.

As the need for power increases, semiconductor packaging becomes more complex as it must convert and transfer more power. Advanced power packaging is essential to operating at high voltages, high currents and high temperatures. Advanced power packaging also contributes to energy efficiency, which is becoming increasingly important as more data centers are built to power artificial intelligence.

David Huitink, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the High-Density Electronics Center, is the principal investigator leading the facility upgrades to expand the research center. The upgrades include providing campus researchers with state-of-the-art equipment. This is expected to lead to more service contracts with external partners, more federal research funding because of increased capabilities and knowledge, and new intellectual property through patented technology from research and development.

“We want to upgrade some of the existing equipment used in electronics assembly as well as expand our capabilities to have a more complete suite of tools that allows us to go from the wafer level all the way to the completed final product,” Huitink said.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., helped to secure federal funding for the research center.

“This investment will strengthen our state’s role in innovative manufacturing and advanced semiconductor research — underpinning the Natural State’s commitment to the industry demands of tomorrow,” Boozman said.

Kim Needy, dean of the College of Engineering, was grateful for Boozman’s support in securing the funding.

“This funding further cements the University of Arkansas’ standing as a national leader in power packaging and semiconductor research,” Needy said. “With these resources, we’re not just advancing our capabilities; we’re positioning our institution at the forefront of the technologies that will power our nation’s future.”

The High-Density Electronics Center is part of the UA Power Group, which comprises interdisciplinary researchers studying power and energy. The High-Density Electronics Center will work “hand-in-glove” with the recently opened Multi-User Silicon Carbide Research and Fabrication Laboratory to build power packaging around silicon carbide wafers developed and produced at the lab, according to the release. Alan Mantooth, director of the UA Power Group and executive director of the lab, set the vision and direction for the group, paving the way for the advanced research and development enabled by this award.

“We want to be the undisputed number one,” Huitink said. “We’re already there in some ways, but we want to establish very clearly that the U of A is the place to come for R&D and prototyping work in wide bandgap electronics.”