Metamaterials for RF and Optical Applications | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) announced an open Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) titled "Metamaterials for RF and Optical Applications" (Funding Opportunity Number BAA 12 01 PKS) to stimulate new research and development ideas that advance electromagnetic metamaterials and closely related enabling technologies. The central aim is to keep a steady pipeline of supplementary and complementary approaches that can enhance how metamaterials are designed, fabricated, tuned, and integrated into practical systems. Rather than focusing on a single narrow device concept, the BAA is positioned as a wide net for innovative concepts that could improve performance, reduce size/weight/power, expand bandwidth, add tunability, or otherwise enable capabilities that are difficult or impossible with conventional materials and structures.

The opportunity explicitly emphasizes work that supports metamaterials across several domains: Radio Frequency (RF), Optical, Acoustic, and bio-related metamaterials. While the title highlights RF and optical applications, the description makes clear that AFRL is also interested in concepts that cross into acoustics and biologically relevant areas, which can include sensing, interaction with biological media, or biomimetic structures, so long as the core technical thrust aligns with metamaterial science and engineered wave-matter interactions. The announcement encourages ideas that address not only the metamaterial itself, but also the surrounding system-level technologies needed to make metamaterials useful in real platforms.

AFRL lists examples of the kinds of complementary technologies it wants to see, such as active electronic matching networks, frequency selective structures, and periodic structures with engineered dispersion. This includes photonic band gap materials and other engineered periodic media that shape wave propagation through bandgaps, tailored phase/group velocity, or controlled dispersion. The mention of acoustic metamaterials broadens the scope to structures that control sound and mechanical waves using analogous principles, including subwavelength structuring, negative effective parameters, or tailored impedance and dispersion. Overall, the theme is engineered structures that manipulate electromagnetic or acoustic waves in ways that conventional homogeneous materials cannot, and that can be paired with active circuitry or tunable elements to achieve adaptive or reconfigurable behavior.

A notable priority in the BAA is interest in innovations that "leverage commercial economies of scale." In practical terms, AFRL is signaling that proposals which can exploit scalable manufacturing, widely available components, or commercial fabrication processes are especially attractive. This could include concepts designed around standard semiconductor processes, printed electronics, additive manufacturing approaches that are already cost-effective at scale, or architectures that can be assembled from mass-produced parts. The emphasis suggests AFRL is looking for a pathway from lab demonstrations to manufacturable, affordable technologies, rather than one-off bespoke prototypes that cannot transition easily.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary federal funding opportunity under the Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program (CFDA 12.800). The agency anticipates making up to about 10 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $6,000,000 across the effort. The announcement indicates that multiple funding instruments may be used, including grants and procurement contracts, which typically reflects flexibility in how AFRL structures agreements depending on the nature of the performer and the work. There is no cost sharing or matching requirement stated, and eligibility is unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is broadly open to different kinds of organizations (for example, companies, universities, non-profits, and other entities), subject to any additional clarifications that might exist in the full text of the announcement.

Timing-wise, the opportunity was posted on February 21, 2012, with an original and current closing date listed as February 20, 2016, and an archive date of March 21, 2016. While those dates indicate the specific posting is no longer active, the summary still captures the technical interests AFRL was soliciting under this open BAA structure during that period, which is useful context for understanding AFRL metamaterials priorities and the kinds of white paper concepts that would have been responsive.

The announcement is very clear about the immediate submission requirement: only white papers are being requested at this time. That means AFRL is initially screening ideas through shorter concept submissions rather than requiring full proposals up front. In practice, white papers are typically used to evaluate technical relevance, novelty, feasibility, and alignment with program objectives before inviting selected teams to submit full proposals. For questions or assistance accessing the full announcement, the listed point of contact is Dawn M. Dalhamer, Contracting Officer, at (937) 255-5372.

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