Photonics, Optics and Lasers

Engineers have long wanted to build microprocessors that exploit the data-carrying and communications perks of fast-as-light photons. With support from two DARPA programs, a team of researchers has taken an important step in that direction.

Developers of imaging systems have long been beholden to certain rules of optics designs so well established and seemingly immutable as to be treated as virtual “laws” of physics. One widely considered pillar of optical design, for example, is that imaging systems must be built from a series of complex and precisely manufactured optical elements arranged linearly. The result of such assumptions is that certain high-performance imagery devices inevitably end up being large and heavy, composed of dozens or more optical elements.

Nothing is more iconic of today’s high technology than the semiconductor chips inside our computers, phones, military systems, household appliances, fitness monitors, and even birthday cards and pets. Since its inception in 1992, DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) has helped create and prevent strategic surprise through investments in compact microelectronic components, such as microprocessors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and photonic devices. MTO’s pioneering efforts to apply advanced capabilities in areas such as wide-band-gap materials, phased array radars, high-energy lasers, and infrared imaging, have helped the United States establish and maintain technological superiority for more than two decades.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Extreme Optics and Imaging (EXTREME) program. The Proposers Day will be held on September 1, 2016 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT. This event will be conducted solely via webcast and advance registration is required. For more information visit: http://go.usa.gov/xjugk.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day to present its technical vision and mission and to provide information to potential proposers on the MTO Office-Wide Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) and the anticipated Commercial Performer Program Announcement.