Electronic & Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC)

The summary for the Electronic & Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC) grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Electronic & Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC): The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of silicon Electronic & Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC) Technology. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvement to the existing state of practice. The objective of the EPIC program is to demonstrate technology for monolithic integration of high performance photonics and electronics on a single Si chip in a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor)-compatible process and to demonstrate functional, high performance EPIC chips with large scale photonic and electronic integration that have high potential for military applications. A further objective of the program is to pursue the development of photonic devices that are not currently available in Si, including but not limited to light emitters and lasers, optical amplifiers and nonlinear optical devices such as wavelength converters in parallel. The spectral region of interest is the extended communications band ranging from 1200 nm to 1700 nm. For the development of the EPIC chips and photonic devices, DARPA seeks innovative proposals in the following areas: I. CMOS-Compatible High Performance Si Nanophotonic Devices The first major interest of the EPIC program is the development and demonstration of a complete suite of high performance Si nanophotonic devices and circuits fabricated in a CMOS-compatible process in a state-of-the-art, production-grade CMOS fab (fabrication facility). The spectral region of interest for these devices is the extended communications band 1200 nm ? 1700 nm. This area of interest has three sub-tasks: A. Develop a design library for a comprehensive set of high performance Si nanophotonic devices and circuits that can be fabricated in a CMOS-compatible process; B. Fabricate, in a state-of-the-art CMOS fabrication facility, a subset of devices necessary for realizing the AS-EPIC(s) to be demonstrated in the second area of interest described below; and C. Demonstrate the photonic device and circuit performance required to realize the AS-EPIC to be demonstrated in the second area of interest below. II. CMOS-compatible Application Specific Electronic and Photonic Integrated Circuits (AS-EPICs) The second major area of interest is fabrication and demonstration of high performance Application Specific EPICs or AS-EPICs for applications especially relevant to DoD. These EPIC chips will integrate the full set or a subset of photonic devices/circuits developed under area I of interest, as well as a full complement of electronic devices/circuits required for a functional AS-EPIC chip. The offeror will select a specific application, discuss its relevance to military applications, and design, fabricate and demonstrate such high performance AS-EPICs. If an offeror proposes to develop more than one type of AS-EPIC, the one of most interest should be proposed in the base program and others as options. The proposal should explain in detail the benefits and impact of developing such AS-EPICs including, but not limited to, the benefits of integration of electronics and photonics on a single Si chip. The goal at the end of Phase I of the program (see Program Scope below) is to design, fabricate, and demonstrate a functional AS-EPIC, and to demonstrate a design and integration path to high performance AS-EPICs for DoD critical applications. The Program goal, at the end of Phase II, is to fabricate and demonstrate DoD critical AS-EPIC(s) with performance exceeding the performance using typical discrete devices. III. Novel Photonic Devices The third area of interest for EPIC is the development of novel photonic devices that are not currently available in Si. These include, but are not limited to, light emitters and lasers, wavelength converters and other nonlinear optical devices, and optical amplifiers. The approaches proposed for these novel devices must be fully compatible with existing CMOS processing and the EPIC chips being developed in this Program. Integrated teams are strongly encouraged. We envision that each team will address the first two areas of interest discussed above and form an integrated program leading to functional, high performance AS-EPICs. Novel Photonic Devices under area III of interest can be proposed either within an integrated team or as an individual innovative proposal. The selected performers will be required to deliver individual devices and groups of devices (circuits) integrated on a chip that form a building block for AS-EPICs, and functional AS-EPICs at appropriate intervals within the program to a DARPA-designated facility. Offerors are also asked to submit a list and timetable of deliverables. Additional information on these technology areas is provided in the Areas of Interest section of the BAA 04-15 Proposer Information Pamphlet referenced below. PROGRAM SCOPE The EPIC program will consist of an 18 month Phase I effort with a Go/No-Go critical demonstration at 16 months. This will be followed by a 30-month Phase II with clearly stated, quantitative milestones at 12, 24 and 30 months into Phase II. Organizations wishing to participate in Phase II should include it as an option in their proposal. Multiple awards are anticipated. Collaborative efforts/teaming including different expertise such as, but not limited to, design, fabrication, and integration are strongly encouraged. The program will also support some very innovative individual investigator or small group efforts in the area of novel photonic devices. Cost sharing is not required and is not an evaluation criterion, but is encouraged where there is a reasonable probability of a potential commercial application related to the proposed research and development effort. Questions concerning this BAA may be directed to the technical POC for this effort, Dr. Jagdeep Shah, phone: (703) 696-2253, fax: (703) 696-2206, electronic mail: [email protected]. GENERAL INFORMATION Proposers must obtain a pamphlet entitled ?BAA 04-15, Electronic & Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC) Technology, Proposer Information Pamphlet? which provides further information on the objectives of the EPIC BAA, the submission, evaluation, and funding processes, proposal formats, and other general information. This pamphlet may be obtained from the FedBizOpps website: http://www.fedbizopps.gov/, the World Wide Web (WWW) at URL http://www.darpa.mil/ or by fax, electronic mail, or mail request to the administrative contact address given below. Proposals not meeting the format described in the pamphlet may not be reviewed. An original and nine (9) copies of the full proposal as specified in the Proposer Information Pamphlet, along with two (2) electronic copies (i.e., two separate disks) must be submitted to DARPA/MTO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (Attn.: BAA 04-15) on or before 4:00 p.m., local time, Friday, April 9, 2004, in order to be considered during the initial round of selections; however, proposals received after this deadline may be received and evaluated up to one year from date of posting on FedBizOpps. File formats for the electronic copies shall be PDF and MS-Word-readable. Media for each copy may be a single CD-ROM, a single 100 Megabyte Iomega Zip (registered) disk, or a single 3.5-inch High Density MS-DOS formatted 1.44 Megabyte diskette. Each disk must be clearly labeled with BAA 04-15, proposer organization, proposal title (short title recommended), and Copy number __ of 2. Full proposals submitted after the due date specified in the BAA may be selected contingent upon the availability of funds. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA 04-15 Proposer Information Pamphlet, constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received, and to make award without discussions. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal which shall be considered by DARPA. Input on technical aspects of the proposals may be solicited by DARPA from non-Government consultants /experts who are bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. Non-Government technical consultants/experts will not have access to proposals that are labeled by their offerors as ?Government Only?. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of research in Silicon Electronic & Photonic Integrated Circuit (EPIC) Technology. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a proposal abstract or full proposal to this BAA, should be directed to one of the administrative addresses below; e-mail or fax is preferred. DARPA intends to use electronic mail and fax for correspondence regarding BAA 04-15. Proposals and proposal abstracts may not be submitted by fax or e-mail; any so sent will be disregarded. DARPA encourages use of the WWW for retrieving the Proposer Information Pamphlet and any other related information that may subsequently be provided. EVALUATION CRITERIA Evaluation of proposal abstracts and full proposals will be accomplished through a technical review of each proposal using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance: (l) overall scientific and technical merit, (2) potential contribution and relevance to DARPA mission, (3) plans and capability to accomplish technology transition, (4) offeror's capabilities and related experience, and (5) cost realism. Note: cost realism will only be significant in proposals which have significantly under or over-estimated the cost to complete their effort. The administrative addresses for this BAA are: Fax: (703) 696-2206 (Addressed to: DARPA/MTO, BAA 04-15), Electronic Mail: [email protected] Mail: DARPA/MTO, ATTN: BAA 04-15 3701 North Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203-1714 This announcement and the Proposer Information Pamphlet may be retrieved via the WWW at URL http://www.darpa.mil/ in the solicitations area.