Directed Energy Materials Program CALL 1 High Energy Lasers Fiber Development and Improvement | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Directed Energy Materials Program, CALL 1: High Energy Lasers Fiber Development and Improvement is part of an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) focused on advancing materials technologies that support directed energy systems. The program is managed by AFRL/RXPS at Wright-Patterson AFB and is structured as an open-ended BAA expected to remain available for about two years, with individual topic-specific "calls" released during that window. Rather than being a single one-time grant, it is a rolling solicitation framework where the government publishes specific needs as separate calls and invites offerors to submit technical and cost proposals within a defined response period for each call.

At the program level, the Air Force is looking for materials breakthroughs that enable higher performance, higher power, and greater durability in three main directed energy areas: high energy laser (HEL) systems, high power microwave (HPM) systems, and mid-infrared laser source and laser development. For HELs, the emphasis is on kilowatt-class materials improvements, including new fiber laser materials, upgrades to existing fiber materials, and materials that can enable high power optical isolation in fiber laser architectures. For HPM systems, the materials need centers on microwave window technology, including improved durability and transmission properties, and a particular interest in optical-grade diamond that offers improved strength and toughness while also being manufacturable at lower cost. The overarching intent is to reduce losses (absorption and reflection) and increase survivability under extreme power levels, including windows capable of supporting transmission on the order of hundreds of megawatts.

This specific announcement is CALL 1, which narrows the focus to high energy laser fiber development and improvement. Within CALL 1, AFRL highlights two principal technical thrusts. The first is Rare Earth Doped YAG Fiber Development. The government is seeking the development of rare-earth-doped YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) fiber in either single-crystal or polycrystalline form. Ytterbium is the preferred dopant, but the solicitation leaves room for other rare earth dopants if they support a credible development and demonstration pathway. A key performance preference is demonstrating single-mode laser operation, which is important for maintaining high beam quality at high power. In addition to the core material, AFRL is also interested in co-developing outer cladding processes and techniques that support cladding-pumped fiber laser schemes, since practical high-power fiber lasers typically rely on robust cladding architectures for efficient pump coupling and thermal management.

CALL 1 also provides concrete, target-like development goals for YAG fiber demonstrations. These include core diameters on the order of 25 microns, a first cladding leading to roughly 100 to 150 microns total diameter, and producing fiber lengths of approximately 1 to 3 meters as a demonstration milestone. The fibers should exhibit spoolability, meaning they can be wound and handled like practical fiber rather than remaining as fragile lab samples. Beam quality is explicitly called out with a desired M-squared range of about 1 to 1.2, indicating strong interest in near-diffraction-limited performance suitable for directed energy applications where brightness and focusability matter.

The second CALL 1 thrust is Silica-Based Fiber Technology Improvement. Here, the Air Force is not asking for an entirely new host material, but rather improvements to conventional silica fiber materials and fabrication that increase power handling, especially in single-mode operation. A major obstacle for scaling single-mode fiber lasers is the onset of nonlinear effects such as stimulated Brillouin scattering and stimulated Raman scattering, which can limit achievable power and degrade signal quality. The solicitation signals interest in materials-level solutions that reduce these nonlinearities, along with improvements in fiber uniformity and manufacturing control. Specific problem areas mentioned include dopant uniformity, thickness variations, cladding interface quality, and other fiber attributes that can drive performance limitations, instability, or premature failure at high power.

From an acquisition and award standpoint, the announcement anticipates multiple awards with varying dollar values, and it allows for several different instrument types, including grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts. Periods of performance are expected to be 36 months plus an additional 3 months for final reporting, suggesting AFRL expects sustained R and D efforts rather than short exploratory studies. Each BAA call is posted publicly (at the time, via FedBizOpps) and typically provides a 30 to 45 calendar day window for proposal submission, with the exact due date and response period specified in the call itself. Proposals submitted outside the active call window are not reviewed and are returned, and late submission rules are tied to FAR 52.215-1(c)(3).

Eligibility is broadly open to many types of domestic entities, with small businesses specifically encouraged to submit proposals, but foreign participation is not allowed. The announcement is tied to CFDA 12.800 (Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program) and does not require cost sharing or matching. Technical questions are directed to William Mitchell at Wright-Patterson AFB, with contracting contacts also provided for administrative or access issues. Overall, CALL 1 is essentially a targeted R and D push to mature next-generation high power fiber laser materials (especially rare-earth-doped YAG fiber) and to raise the power ceiling of silica-based single-mode fibers by addressing nonlinear scattering and fabrication-driven performance limits.

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