THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A 1750A COMPUTER CHIP SET IN GALLIUM ARSENIDE

THE EVER INCREASING NEED FOR HIGHER PERFORMANCE MICROCOMPUTER COMPONENTS CAPABLE OF SATISFYING REAL TIME COMPUTATIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN CURRENT AND FUTURE MISSILE, RE-ENTRY, AND POST-BOOST VEHICLE APPLICATIONS ARE REAL AND DEMANDING NECESSITIES. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY IS BEING TAXED TO THE LIMITS OF ITS PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES ESPECIALLY IN THE AREA OF NUCLEAR HARDNESS. ESTIMATES OF FUTURE NUCLEAR REQUIREMENTS PLACE MANY PROJECTED SYSTEMS AND THEIR MISSIONS IN JEOPARDY. THIS SBIR PROGRAM INTENDS TO PROVIDE A GENERALLY USEFUL,FAST, NUCLEAR HARD MICROCOMPUTER THROUGH A PROPOSED DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORT AIMED AT IMPLEMENTING A 1750A COMPUTER CHIP SET IN GALLIUM ARSENIDE. GALLIUM ARSENIDE IS AN INHERENTLY HARD, VERY FAST, SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL WHICH WILL PROVIDE AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OR MORE IMPROVEMENT IN HARDNESS AND PERFORMANCE LEVELS. THIS DEVELOPMENT SHOULD ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THE PRODUCTION OF A MICROCOMPUTER CHIP SET WHICH YIELDS A VAST IMPROVEMENT IN BOTH NUCLEAR HARDNESS AND COMPUTATIONAL POWER APPLICABLE FOR MILITARY AS WELL AS COMMERCIAL MARKETS.