Center for Low Energy Systems Technology One of six university research centers focused on next-generation microelectronics
Center for Low Energy Systems Technology

Welcome to the Center for Low Energy Systems Technology

Led by the University of Notre Dame, the Center for Low Energy Systems Technology (LEAST) explores the physics of new materials and devices to enable more energy-efficient integrated circuits and systems.

Research Themes
  • Theme 1: Materials, interfaces, and surfaces
  • Theme 2: Quantum-engineered steep transistors
  • Theme 3: Transduction components
  • Theme 4: Benchmarks, circuits, and architectures
Overview
LEAST | Center for Low Energy Systems Technology

Established in 2013, the Center for Low Energy Systems Technology (LEAST) is one of six university microelectronics research centers funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to support the continued growth and leadership of the U.S. semiconductor industry.

The six centers and their 39 universities make up the Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research Network (STARnet). SRC and DARPA have dedicated 194 million over five years to the six new centers, with each center receiving about $6 million annually.

LEAST is led by the University of Notre Dame, with nine partner universities exploring new concepts for dramatically lowering the power dissipated by electronic systems:

STARnetThe STARnet program also includes centers led by the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, UCLA and UC Berkeley.

LEAST Technical Director: Alan Seabaugh
LEAST Managing Director: Robert Dunn 

>More about LEAST
About
  • SRC

    The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) is the world's leading technology research consortium. With member companies and university research programs spanning the globe, SRC plays an indispensable part in the R&D strategies of the industry's most influential entities.
    Learn more about SRC

  • DARPA

    The mission of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military and prevent technological surprise from harming our national security by sponsoring revolutionary, high-profile research bridging the gap between fundamental discoveries and their military use.
    Learn more about DARPA

  • STARNET

    STARnet is a collaborative network of stellar university research centers whose goal is to enable the continued pace of growth of the microelectronics industry, unconstrained by the daunting list of fundamental physical limits that threaten.

Industry Partners
  • Applied Materials
  • GLOBALFOUNDRIES
  • IBM
  • Intel Corporation
  • Micron Technology
  • Raytheon
  • Texas Instruments
  • United Technologies