Hybrid Projectile Components Miniaturization

Current electrical and mechanical components for gun-fired munitions and projectiles are heavy, bulky, and not sufficiently resilient to withstand respected G-Force produced when the projectile is fired. Minimizing the environmental impact and keeping such munitions and projectiles out of enemy hands is of another concern to the US Army. In this SBIR program Custom Electronics proposes to explore the integration of silicon IC dies onto a biodegradable polymer substrates in order to realize high performance flexible electronics that will have a form factor (light weight, flexible, small volume) suitable to meet the specifications of the proposed program and will also be environmentally friendly. This would be accomplished by analyzing the required electronic components of a 40mm guided projectile and to develop a design where at least part of these components will be integrated onto a flexible biodegradable substrate, developing candidate polymer materials and then develop strategies for integrating the silicon IC dies onto the final flexible printed circuit board formed by the biodegradable polymer. A technical plan for developing the final prototype system will be drafted for Phase II.