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SUMMARY The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been instrumental in foster- ing the scientific and technological base of the nation for over 40 years. This tradition of identifying promising opportunities and pro- viding sustained funding for basic research is a consistent record of singular import to the nation that has allowed promise in electronics to be achieved. In reviewing the current programs in electronics, the panel finds that exciting, world-class research is being supported, especially in the area of greatest emphasis: solid state electronics. Without compromising this success, selective funding increases are recommended for systems research. In this study, we suggest that an opportunity exists to augment the current work by establishing more cross-disciplinary efforts. For example, this is an ideal time to profit from joint efforts among mate- rials, characterization, theoretical modeling and simulations, and device areas. Without advanced components, systems capabilities will have limited functionality. The performance of an electronic system is ultimately limited by the performance of the devices that it is com- posed of. Slight differences in performance can be critical to the success or failure of a military mission. The ONR Solid State Elec- tronics Program is central to providing the Navy with the highest performance electronic systems. The current ONR program is innovative, concentrating on the right issues, and well-managed. However, we believe that if additional funds were available, the ONR would be better able to ensure that Navy needs in command, control, and commu- nications (C3) and electronic warfare (EW) are successfully met. Some areas for emphasis with new funding include: (a) innovative devices that couple effectively with the materials research program; (b) the use of high-performance, inexpensive computing in the fabri- cation of devices; (c) nanofabrication techniques; (d) devices with characteristic dimensions of <100 nm; and (e) basic science of hetero- epitaxy and homoepitaxy to provide the technology base suppport for the development of modern electronics, electro-optics, and sensors. Developments in complexity of electronic devices have come at a cost. The increased capital investments and maintenance costs are well-documented in the manufacture of state-of-the-art electronic de- vices. Research in the area has suffered the same increase in overall cost. A serious research program in each of these areas will require a few capital equipment items that cost more than $0.5M apiece. Purchase and maintenance of the equipment and the associated research efforts are changing dramatically the cost of research in these areas of electronics. For this reason, funding increases beyond the standard rate of increase will be required in the future to take advantage of the leverage these areas could provide to our modern Navy. There are many who believe the opportunities in solid state electronics today are as great as in the early 1960s when integrated circuits were first invented.
- 2 - We recognize important Navy needs for scientific research in regions of power/frequency space where solid state electronics cannot provide required characteristics: for example, gyrotrons and ubitrons, as well as more traditional slow wave devices such as TWT and CFTs. A modest investment in vacuum electronics should be part of the Navy's electronics portfolio. The pervasive role of networks and communication systems suggests fruitful topics for additional investment in order to deal in an order- ly way with the ever-increasing complexity and inherent unreliability of future systems. Although the area has recently had a substantial infusion of SDIO/IST funds, and although it is also partly covered by efforts in the mathematics and computer sciences programs, it is so relevant to Navy needs that additional funding of the core program base would appear to be extremely important. The high quality of the small program currently existing in this area must be commended, but efforts to bring more researchers into the area without reducing the exploding opportunities in solid state electronics will be essential for signifi- cant progress. We suggest algorithms for distributed architectures and networks as a major topic that is both forward looking and at the same time related naturally to the existing efforts in the ONR. The panel identifies new opportunities for enhanced activity in electromagnetics and space science in an effort to add to the rather limited ONR-sup- ported efforts in these fields. These opportunities include: (a) ad- vanced systems and techniques for using electromagnetic radiation to detect ocean conditions and the presence of surface and subsurface vessels, and (b) study of the feasibility of modifying ionospheric conditions using high-powered sources of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. The ONR support of some basic electronics research in industrial laboratories has been instrumental in encouraging advances in this field throughout the years. Therefore, we urge the ONR to continue such support and to maintain close awareness of developments in electronics research in industry, being alert to opportunities for cooperative efforts in areas of mutual interest.
