Academic researchers support DARPA chip-scale integrated photonics programme
The Research Foundation for the State University of New York is joining the DARPA-run Lasers for Universal Microscale Optical Systems (LUMOS) programme under a $19.21 million research contract.
LUMOS ‘will enable efficient on-chip optical gain to highly capable integrated photonics platforms and enable complete photonics functionality on a single substrate for disruptive optical microsystems’, the DoD noted on 14 September.
Work will be performed in Albany, New York (48%); Santa Barbara, California (21%); Boston, Massachusetts (26%); and Greensboro, North Carolina (5%), with an expected completion date of September 2024.
LUMOS aims to bring high-performance lasers and amplifiers to manufacturable photonics platforms ‘through heterogeneous integration of diverse materials’, according to the DARPA website.
In particular, the programme seeks to develop integrated photonics technology along three vectors: scaling complexity, scaling power, and scaling spectrum.
For scaling across the spectrum, LUMOS aims to create photonic circuits with integrated lasers operating across the visible spectrum with a wavelength-by-design methodology to enable atomic microsystems for positioning, navigation, and timing applications, as well as compact quantum sensors and information processing systems.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
More from Defence Notes
-
The speed of relevance: how companies can navigate the new era of European defence procurement
European militaries face a rapidly evolving security landscape and defence production must accelerate to meet surging demand for platforms and equipment. Industry needs to adapt to ensure it gets its products into the hands of the end user, Evelyn Rafferty, Senior Director Aerospace and Defence - Europe at Plexus told Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan.
-
Delays, departures and drama cloud UK defence programmes ahead of absent DIP
The UK defence secretary’s departure suggests that the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan is unlikely to meet the funding demands of the armed forces, with consequences for procurement and the UK’s standing at a NATO summit weeks away.
-
Agile, sovereign, edge-ready: rewiring defence IT for a contested decade
Today's rapidly changing security landscape means that armed forces can no longer treat their data in the same way as in the past. What are the key challenges they face, and how can industry help them?
-
US lawmakers prepare a historic investment in stockpile replenishment in FY2027
The House Armed Services Committee recently released the Chairman’s NDAA FY2027 markup, which supports the Pentagon’s request for nearly $90 billion for long-range missiles, air defence interceptors, precision-guided munitions and industrial baseline items.