WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 17, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that 10 of its national labs will establish the Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA (SMART USA) Institute, a manufacturing institute intended to support domestic semiconductor production through advanced digital twin technology.
SMART USA will leverage the digital twin, or virtual copy, AI, and computational research capabilities of DOE’s national laboratory complex. Ten of DOE’s national laboratories have combined effort to provide research support forming the backbone of SMART USA (Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). They will be led by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the project’s chief digital officer.
Digital twins, or virtual copies, are virtual representations of real-world systems that are used to improve domestic semiconductor design, manufacturing, advanced packaging, assembly, and test processes. SMART USA will join an existing network of 17 institutes designed to increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and promote a robust research and development infrastructure. This announcement highlights the convergence of several important pillars of critical and emerging technology for DOE: artificial intelligence, microelectronics, and digital twins.
“The Department of Energy and our National Labs have been at the forefront of artificial intelligence research and we’re expanding that reach to advance domestic manufacturing capacity and national security,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm. “The SMART USA Institute supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to promote collaboration across the government and broader scientific community to speed up the development and adoption of advanced semiconductor technologies, shorten the time and cost of chip production, and provide training opportunities for the next generation of semiconductor workers.”
DOE has a long history of leading innovation at the cutting edge of microelectronics and semiconductor research, the agency said. Work through DOE’s Exascale Computing Program led to the development of critical components of the GPU chips now essential for advanced simulations and AI.
This collaboration with industry and university partners will lead development of the world’s first digital twin backbone for semiconductors. Digital twins refer to living models connecting virtual and real-life assets. The backbone allows combined digital twins to operate together using two-way communication protocols. This technology has the promise to reduce barriers to entry for new digital twin technologies, transforming chips performance in America.
