DoD (Department of Defense)DoD (Department of Defense), an agency of the United States government is a chief user and creator of technology in the United States. The department is actively promoting commercial uses and nondefense applications of technologies owned or developed by them.
The Department of Defense views technology transfers and dual-use technology as win-win propositions. By making their technologies available commercially, the DoD seeks to lower the costs of acquiring equipment by drawing on a larger commercial industrial base--a laudable goal for a department known for paying inflated prices for spare parts. One example of the tech transfer: the DoD's Rome Laboratory has filed a patent for MDAZL, a packaging concept that takes multiple, unpackaged memory die, thins the backs down, stacks 4 to 16 die vertically, and connects the edges to a cover. This serves as connection points for wire bonding or other connection purposes. The package has 4 to 16 times the memory capacity as a single die and is about the same size. Irvine Sensors manufactures the package, called Short Stacks by the Department, but the technology has also been demonstrated to IBM, Micron, and Texas Instruments, among others.