Innovative NORDTECH Microelectronics R&D Projects Receive More than $25M in Funding
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Contact: Steve Ference | sference@nordtechub.org | +1 (518) 424-6029
Four collaborative projects have now received more than $55 million from the U.S. Department of War to accelerate critical quantum and leap-ahead technologies
Albany, N.Y. – The Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH), a regional consortium of government labs, defense companies, academic institutions, and technology manufacturing organizations in New York State and one of eight hubs composing the U.S. Microelectronics Commons program, is proud to share that their four innovative projects that were selected by the U.S. Department of War (DOW) are receiving more than $25 million in second year funding after achieving their key first-year benchmarks. To-date, these four projects will have received a total of $55.43 million in the technical areas of quantum and commercial leap ahead technologies, which are imperative for meeting the United States’ technological and defense needs.
NORDTECH is led by the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY Creates) in partnership with the University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and IBM, who collectively make up the hub’s leadership team and governance committee.
See the NSTXL/NSWC Crane News Release Here
“This renewed investment from the U.S. Department of War is a testament to the strength of NORDTECH’s collaborative R&D projects which are accelerating lab-to-fab innovations and generating DOW-relevant prototypes,” said NY Creates Director and NORDTECH Technical Director, Dr. Nicholas Fahrenkopf. “With continued government funding, our collaborative teams, spanning more than 20 academic and government organizations, are driving high-impact microelectronics research and development projects in direct support of U.S. Department of War objectives.”
These funded projects include:
1. Expected Funding: $5,400,000
Project Title: Improved Materials for Superconducting Qubits With Scalable Fabrication
Lead Institution: NY Creates
Team Members: Cornell University, Princeton, Syracuse University, New York University, QCI / D-Wave, SEEQC, and the Air Force Research Lab-Information Directorate
Topic Area: Quantum
Project Highlights: Last year, the team established the hub’s core infrastructure for qubit nanofabrication, achieving leading-edge performance with scalable innovations on superconducting film deposition, and developing the feasibility of 300mm fabrication of superconducting qubits. This work also delivered foundational packaging and testing protocols and the first elements of a superconducting quantum Process Design Kit (SQPDK). This year, the project will build on this momentum by demonstrating qubit chips fabricated using hub tools, conducting lab-to-fab transfer of best-in-class nanofabrication processes, and advancing the SQPDK to support broader adoption and scalability.
“The selection for second-year federal award by the Department of War reflects confidence in the direction and momentum of our quantum research efforts taking place at NY Creates and with our partners across NORDTECH. This additional funding enables our team to accelerate critical work across qubit development, fabrication, and system integration. As execution continues, building on the achievements of the prior year, we are focused on delivering significant technical progress and accelerating toward long-term impact for the national quantum research ecosystem,” said NY Creates' Senior Director of Emerging Technologies and Research, Dr. Satyavolu Papa Rao.
2. Expected Funding: $8,920,000
Project Title: Quantum Ultra-broadband Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (QUPICS)
Lead Institutions: AIM Photonics and Cornell University
Team Members: RIT, Columbia, Yale, AFRL, NIST, Quantinuum, Xanadu, Toptica USA
Topic Area: Quantum
Project Highlights: In its first year, the Quantum Ultra-broadband Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (QUPICS) project successfully integrated new material layers essential for quantum atomic and optical systems, including aluminum oxide and thin silicon nitride, and established foundational processing techniques for ion trap devices. Project partners designed and validated a suite of advanced components leveraging these layers, such as passive waveguides, splitters, beam-forming elements, integrated lasers, and resonators. This year the project team will further advance 300mm photonic integrated circuit fabrication for atomic-based systems, driving down optical losses in preparation for ion-trapping demonstrations and enabling multiple quantum frequency-conversion modalities with high-rate, low-threshold photon-pair sources.
“The work being done on the Quantum Ultra-Broadband Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems or QUPICS, will likely come as one – if not the first – ultraviolet to infrared active silicon photonic platform for quantum atomic and optical systems. Within year-one and moving into year-two, test sites and PIC fabrication shuttles are at the core of QUPICS, results are pooled, and deep learning passed along through real world implementation of PICs in quantum atomic and optical systems. Precious feedback from these quantum systems is used in the development that will continue to lower optical losses and drive more useful quantum chips at the 300 mm scale. To bolster our process development efforts at AIM Photonics, we are developing a fully automated optoelectronic tester for integrated photonics within a 300 mm cleanroom at the NY Creates NanoTech Complex. It’s a unique capability that will allow in-cleanroom process development and end-of-line wafer acceptance, which becomes a powerful tool to unlock useful UV-IR PICs. Our seamless integration across NORDTECH and other MEC groups exploring quantum technology leveraging UV-IR PICs, will accelerate the quantum community’s adoption of 300 mm photonics for atomic and optical systems.” said Dr. Lewis G. Carpenter, Photonics Development Manager at AIM Photonics, who worked on the proposal and serves as the project’s principal investigator.
3. Expected Funding: $7,050,000
Project Title: Nitride RF Next-Generation Technology (NITRIDER)
Lead Institution: Cornell University
Team Members: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Northrup Grumman, Soctera, Inc., Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, Crystal IS Inc., and Qorvo Texas, LLC
Topic Area: Commercial Leap Ahead
Project Highlights: Over the previous year, the NITRIDER project team, led by Cornell University, delivered four groundbreaking lab-to-fab technologies that strengthen U.S. leadership in wide bandgap semiconductors. The team achieved record accomplishments in E-Band AlScN/GaN HEMTs (Qorvo); AlScN superlattice castellated FETs (Cornell with U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Northrop Grumman); metal-polar AlN XHEMTs on bulk AlN wafers(Cornell with Crystal IS, Teledyne, and Soctera); and the N-polar AlN XHEMTs on bulk AlN wafers (Cornell with Crystal-IS).
“Continued funding for the work being done at Cornell with our partners across the NORDTECH hub is critical to advancing U.S. leadership in nitride-based materials for wide bandgap semiconductors,” said Gary Koretzky, vice provost for research at Cornell University. “The NITRIDER team delivered multiple world-first achievements in Year 1 that not only realize the power capacity of these materials but also progress these systems toward commercial readiness for our manufacturing partners Northrop Grumman, Qorvo, Crystal IS, Soctera, and Teledyne.”
4. Expected Funding: $4,160,000
Project Title: Heterogeneous Quantum Networking
Lead Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
Team Members: Air Force Research Lab – Information Directorate, Yale University, Duke University, AIM Photonics, and NY Creates
Topic Area: Quantum
Project Highlights: In the first year of developing heterogeneous quantum networks, the team, led by Prof. Stefan Preble (RIT) and Dr. David Hucul (AFRL), designed and manufactured photonic chips to create the beginnings of quantum networking infrastructure between different qubit platforms. The use of foundry-compatible photonics chips creates a high-speed interconnect between quantum network nodes by enabling spatial multiplexing. This may be combined with temporal multiplexing with atomic systems to push entanglement rates orders of magnitude higher than current state-of-the-art systems. In addition, the team’s advances in detector technology are enabling photon number resolving detectors with high fidelity and at elevated critical temperature. These lab-to-fab advances are made possible by bringing together a wide variety of expertise from industry (AIM photonics & NY Creates), academia (Yale University, Duke University, RIT), and DOW labs (AFRL).
“RIT is excited to continue the advancement of heterogeneous quantum networking with our partners at the U.S. Microelectronics Commons NORDTECH Hub,” said Dr. Ryne Raffaelle, vice president of research and associate provost at RIT. “Our team's work designing and fabricating integrated photonic chips that enable high‑speed, scalable connections between different quantum platforms reflects the power of this consortium. By working closely with the Air Force Research Lab and our partners at Yale, Duke, AIM Photonics, and NY Creates, we are accelerating the development of chip‑scale technologies that will support the next generation of quantum networking. This renewed support strengthens our shared commitment to moving these innovations from research to prototype and to bolstering U.S. leadership in critical microelectronics and quantum information science.”
####################
About the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH)
NORDTECH is a regional coalition of public and private sector experts in the Microelectronics Commons region in and around New York State, established in September 2023 as part of the first major award from the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. NORDTECH’s five founding members who compose the leadership team and governance committee of the hub include: the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY Creates), the University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and IBM. NORDTECH’s board is advised by diverse participating member organizations, including small and medium semiconductor manufacturing companies, universities and community colleges, and major corporations that are service providers and leaders in semiconductor device design, fabrication and production. Learn more at nordtechub.org.