HRL Laboratories, LLC : Technologies

Applied Electromagnetics
The Applied Electromagnetics Laboratory focuses on the application of electromagnetics, physics, radio frequency (RF) technologies and photonics to solve emerging customer needs. This Lab performs research on antennas, enabling the creation of very compact communications devices, with such exciting applications as textured surfaces for conformal antennas, wearable antennas, and electronically steerable and compact tunable antennas. Under computational physics, Applied Electromagnetics has unique physics-based theory and modeling capabilities, using electromagnetic theory and simulation, quantum information science, and nonlinear science. The photonics area includes microwave signal processing, digital/analog networks, sampling for fast analog-to-digital conversion, and microphotonics (electronics and photonics on the same chip).

Information & Systems Sciences
Complex future systems will require revolutionary advances in machine function and in human-machine interaction. To assist LLC Member Companies in creating these new systems, the Information and Systems Sciences Laboratory (ISSL) is focusing on the development of technology to enable smart networks and systems. Smart networks and systems can reason about and adapt to changes in their environment, goals, or their own capabilities, can be taught or learn from experience to improve their performance, and can intuitively interact with and respond or adjust to their users. The development of technology to enable smart networks and systems requires broad-based, multi-disciplinary activities in information exploitation, bio-inspired computing, human-computer interaction, and large-scale networking systems.

Microelectronics
HRL provides solutions for challenging system requirements, with outstanding expertise and capabilities in state-of-the-art microwave/millimeter-wave devices, mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs) and novel approaches to reconfigurable, high performance radio frequency (RF) front ends. We have developed several key technology discriminators. We deliver high yield indium phosphide heterojunction bipolar transistor (InP HBT) ICs for high speed mixed signal circuits at low power. Our InP HEMT millimeter-wave-frequency low noise amplifiers offer the world’s best noise figure and gain performance in the 70-to-110 gigahertz range. We also produce gallium nitride (GaN) devices for high-power millimeter-wave amplifiers, robust low noise amplifiers, and high temperature operation. HRL’s antimony (Sb)-diode detector is an enabling device for millimeter-wave imaging applications. HRL's technology expertise spans competencies in design, analysis and synthesis, fabrication, testing, packaging, and assembly, to offer solutions for the most challenging customer needs.

Sensors & Materials
Advanced sensing and materials technologies are the foundation for innovation: new functionality, higher performance, lighter weight, more affordable. HRL works the forefront of materials science, physics and chemistry to develop and mature the most promising of these technologies to produce discriminators for our customer’s next generation products and services. Our scientists and engineers work in multidisciplinary teams to create an innovative look from the atomic to the macroscopic to address anticipated needs of the future.