ONHS Report: DARPA-SN-26-124

Resilient Ultra Short Pulsed Laser Sources - RFI

Solicitation ID: DARPA-SN-26-124

Agency: DARPA/MXO

Type: Special Notice

Deadline: 2026-11-20T17:00:00 ET

Eligibility: Yes (Unrestricted)

Funding: N/A

Doc Type: RFI

Clearance: No

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Last Updated: 2026-09-08 16:03

Analyzed File: DARPA-SN-26-124.pdf

Eligibility Reasoning

Responses are welcome from all capable sources including, but not limited to, private or public companies, individuals, universities, university-affiliated research centers, not-for-profit research institutions, and U.S. Government-sponsored labs.

Note: This is an AI-generated summary...

Summary

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Multi X Office (MXO) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather insights on the development of compact, rugged, and fieldable millijoule-class ultra-short pulsed laser (USPL) sources. DARPA is interested in innovative system architectures, including chip-scale and fiber-based approaches, that can achieve sub-picosecond pulses with energies ranging from microjoules to millijoules and repetition rates from tens of kilohertz to gigahertz. Key areas of inquiry include methods to maintain stable mode-locking under significant environmental stressors like vibration and thermal transients (per MIL-STD-810H), and strategies for enabling broad, real-time tunability of laser parameters such as wavelength, pulse energy, repetition rate, and pulse shape within a ruggedized form factor. The information gathered will be used to inform future DARPA research programs and performance targets.

Overall Technical Areas

Ultra-Short Pulsed Lasers (USPL)Ruggedized Laser SystemsMode-Locked Laser StabilityIntegrated PhotonicsChip-Scale Mode-Locked LasersHigh Energy Pulse AmplificationDoped Waveguide TechnologyIntegrated Titanium-Sapphire LasersFiber-Based Laser ArchitecturesTunable Laser ParametersLaser Waveform GenerationVibration and Thermal CompensationOptical Frequency Comb Shaping

Probable LBNL Areas

BSACSAESAETAPSA

Focus Areas

Example Priorities:

Envisioned ultra-short pulsed laser system with sub-picosecond, microjoule to millijoule pulses, at gigahertz to tens of kilohertz repetition rates, respectively.
Significant system architectural changes from state of the art to allow compact deployable systems and comparison to state of the art, and identification of the role (if any) of chip-scale photonics in the system.
USPL flow-down metrics: center wavelength, wavelength tuning range, pulse width, pulse width tuning, pulse energy, average power, repetition rate, waveform generation, operating vibration and acceleration sensitivity, operating temperature range and thermal stability.

Specific Technical Skills:

Ultra-Short Pulse LasersLaser System ArchitectureIntegrated PhotonicsChip-Scale PhotonicsSystems EngineeringOpto-mechanical DesignThermal ManagementLaser AmplifiersMode-locked LasersSemiconductor Fabrication

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Mengjie Yu	0.77	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Integrated Photonics
Nicholas Wenner	0.74	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering · Opto-mechanical Design
Jeroen van Tilborg	0.74	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers
Russell Wilcox	0.74	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering · Laser System Architecture
Marina Radulaski	0.74	ESA \| MF \| MF Nanofabrication Facility · Chip-Scale Photonics
Grant Cutler	0.74	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering · Opto-mechanical Design
Kin Yu	0.73	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Semiconductor Fabrication
Fanting Kong	0.73	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Laser Amplifiers
Steven Hofmeyr	0.73	CSA \| AMCR \| Computer Science · Systems Engineering
Ravi Prasher	0.73	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Thermal Management

Example Priorities:

Impact of challenging environmental conditions on ultra-short pulsed mode-locked laser performance: ability to maintain mode-locking through vibration, thermal transients; describe the limitations to these capabilities and discuss opportunities to overcome them.
Potential solutions and methods to overcome environmental conditions, such as those described by MIL-STD-810H, for operational aircraft: component ruggedization, vibration isolation, acceleration compensation, thermal control.

Specific Technical Skills:

Mode-Locking StabilizationVibration IsolationAcceleration CompensationThermal Control SystemsComponent RuggedizationEnvironmental TestingMIL-STD-810H ComplianceLaser DiagnosticsFeedback Control SystemsMaterials Science

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Francesco Ricci	0.75	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Materials Science
Ellie Tubman	0.74	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Laser Diagnostics
Lane Martin	0.74	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · MIL-STD-810H Compliance
Claire Tomlin	0.74	BSA \| Biological Systems & Engineering \| Department of BioEngineering and BioMedical Sciences · Feedback Control Systems
Philip Haves	0.73	ETA \| Building Tech. & Urban Sys. \| Bldg Technologies Dept · Thermal Control Systems
Mengjie Yu	0.73	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Mode-Locking Stabilization
Henry Willem	0.73	ETA \| Energy Analysis \| Energy Efficiency Studies · Environmental Testing
Jeroen van Tilborg	0.72	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Acceleration Compensation
Arnaud Allézy	0.72	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering · Vibration Isolation
Philip Mallon	0.71	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering · Component Ruggedization

Example Priorities:

Approaches to, and feasibility limitations to, wavelength tuning, pulse width tuning, pulse energy tuning, repetition rate tuning, shaping the comb power distribution as a function of wavelength, in a compact and rugged form factor.
Approaches to arbitrary waveform generation in USPLs, in a compact and rugged form factor.
New innovations and system architectures, including chip-scale and fiber-based approaches, are needed to create a general purpose, broadly tunable, rugged, fieldable millijoule class USPL for dual-use applications.

Specific Technical Skills:

Wavelength TuningPulse ShapingArbitrary Waveform GenerationRepetition Rate ControlOptical Comb SpectroscopyNon-linear OpticsFiber LasersReal-time Control SystemsOptoelectronicsPulse Energy Tuning

Potential PIs for this Area:

Name	Score	Organization
Fanting Kong	0.76	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Fiber Lasers
Mengjie Yu	0.75	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Optical Comb Spectroscopy
Kin Yu	0.73	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Optoelectronics
Alessio Amodio	0.73	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering · Pulse Energy Tuning
Csaba Toth	0.73	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Repetition Rate Control
Jeroen van Tilborg	0.72	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Non-linear Optics
Olga Shapoval	0.72	PSA \| ATAP \| Advanced Modeling Prog · Pulse Shaping
Antoine Islegen-Wojdyla	0.71	ESA \| ALS \| Photon Science Development · Wavelength Tuning
Angelos Ioannou	0.71	CSA \| AMCR \| Computer Science · Real-time Control Systems
Abhi Rajagopala	0.71	CSA \| NERSC \| HPC Technology Department · Arbitrary Waveform Generation

Potential LBNL PIs (Overall)

Note on PI Matching: These suggestions are generated through an AI-driven semantic analysis of LBNL staff profiles.

Name	Score	Organization
Mengjie Yu	0.79	ESA \| MSD \| Material Physics · Integrated Photonics
Hao Ding	0.77	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · High Energy Pulse Amplification
Fanting Kong	0.77	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Fiber-Based Laser Architectures
Tong Zhou	0.76	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · Ultra-Short Pulsed Lasers (USPL)
Hai-En Tsai	0.76	PSA \| ATAP \| BELLA Center · High Energy Pulse Amplification
Marina Radulaski	0.76	ESA \| MF \| MF Nanofabrication Facility · Doped Waveguide Technology
Russell Wilcox	0.75	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering · Laser Waveform Generation
Alessio Amodio	0.74	PSA \| Engineering \| Electronic Engineering · Tunable Laser Parameters
Dongwoo Paeng	0.74	ETA \| ESDR \| Energy Storage & Dist Dpt · Integrated Titanium-Sapphire Lasers
Arnaud Allézy	0.73	PSA \| Engineering \| Mechanical Engineering · Vibration and Thermal Compensation

Fundamental Research Exemption (FRE)

Not Mentioned