10 July 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- [Printed Issue Date: July 6, 2001] From the Commerce Business Daily Online via GPO Access [cbdnet.access.gpo.gov] PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS SUBPART: SERVICES CLASSCOD: A--Research and Development OFFADD: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contract Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714 SUBJECT: A--CHIP-SCALE ATOMIC CLOCK SOL BAA01-32 DUE 100901 POC Dr. William C. Tang, DARPA/MTO, Fax: 703-696-2206 DESC: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting research proposals in the area of Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC). 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. DARPA seeks innovative proposals in the area of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) implementation of CSAC. The final goal is to demonstrate an integrated, MEMS-fabricated, ultra-miniaturized atomic time and frequency reference units that will achieve significant reductions in size (for example, 1 cm cubed in final package excluding battery) and power consumption (on the order of 30 mW) over state-of-the-art devices, while providing frequency accuracy on the order of 1x10 to the negative 11th power (Allen deviation at one-hour integration time). The development of chip-scale atomic clock will enable ultra-miniaturized (with the goal of the size of a wristwatch) and ultra-low power time and frequency references for high-security ultra-high frequency (UHF) communication and jam-resistant global positioning system (GPS) receivers. The use of these ultra-miniature time reference units can greatly improve the mobility and robustness of any military systems and platforms with sophisticated UHF communication and/or navigation requirements. The ultra-stable frequency reference from atomic sources will drastically improve channel selectivity and density for all military communications. It will also enable ultra-fast frequency hopping in synchronized spread-spectrum communication for improved security and jam resistance and strong-encryption in data communication. When used in military GPS receivers, it will greatly improve the jamming margin in a high-jamming environment, direct P/Y code acquisition and reacquisition capabilities, and position identification accuracy. In surveillance applications, chip-scale atomic clocks can be used to improve resolution in Doppler radars and to enhance accuracy of location identification of radio emitters. Other important uses include missile and munitions guidance, robust electronic and information defense networks, and high-confidence identification of friends and foes. All of these applications will be characterized by significant power reduction and/or ultra miniaturization while meeting or exceeding the performance levels of the state-of-practice approaches. The key focus of this program is on optimized combinations of innovative solutions in micro or nano fabrication, materials processing, device design, transduction mechanism, interconnects, and other relevant engineering approaches that directly address the performance issues in atomic frequency and time referencing. The most essential research elements include confinement and stabilization of cesium, rubidium, or other suitable species, excitation and detection of the hyperfine-transition resonance of the chosen species, and phase locking or direct coupling with micromechanical resonators. Research issues may include, but are not limited to: (1) temperature stability, magnetic shielding, hermetic encapsulation, and means to maintain atomic ground-state coherence within the confinement cell; (2) integration with vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VSCEL) or other photon and/or microwave sources and photo detector with the confinement cell; and (3) integration, phase locking, and/or direct coupling with micromechanical resonators. DARPA strongly encourages well-coordinated, interdisciplinary research and development activities that take into consideration all significant and relevant engineering tradeoffs and optimizations. Teaming among academic, industrial and/or government partners is encouraged, and it is anticipated that the contributions of the team members are complementary as well as essential to the critical path of the research plan. A technology insertion plan is encouraged and research that holds promise of insertion into Department of Defense (DoD) relevance is of great interest. PROGRAM SCOPE: Awards totaling approximately $20 million over three years are expected to be made during the second half of calendar year 2001. Multiple awards are anticipated. Collaborative efforts/teaming are encouraged. Cost sharing is encouraged where there is a reasonable probability of a potential commercial application related to the proposed research and development effort. The technical POC for this effort is Dr. William C. Tang, fax: (703) 696-2206, electronic mail: wtang@darpa.mil. GENERAL INFORMATION: Proposers must obtain a pamphlet entitled "BAA 01-32, Chip-Scale Atomic Clock, Proposer Information Pamphlet" which provides further information on Chip-Scale Atomic Clock, the submission, evaluation, and funding processes, proposal abstract formats, proposal formats, and other general information. This pamphlet may be obtained from the World Wide Web (WWW), at URL http://www.darpa.mil/mto/Solicitations/ 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. In order to minimize unnecessary effort in proposal preparation and review, proposers are strongly encouraged to submit proposal abstracts in advance of full proposals. An original and six (6) copies of the proposal abstract and 2 electronic copies (i.e., 2 separate disks) of the abstract [in PDF (preferred), MS-Word readable, HTML, or ASCII format each on a single 3.5 inch High Density MS-DOS formatted 1.44 Megabyte (MB) diskette, a single 100 MB Iomega Zip (registered) disk, or a CD-ROM] should be submitted. Each disk must be clearly labeled with BAA 01-32, proposer organization, proposal title (short title recommended) and Copy __ of 2. The proposal abstract (original and designated number of hard and electronic copies) must be submitted to DARPA/MTO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (Attn.: BAA 01-32) on or before 4:00 p.m., local time, Thursday, August 16, 2001. Proposal abstracts received after this time and date may not be reviewed. Upon review, DARPA will respond to proposal abstracts with a recommendation to propose or not to propose and the time and date for submission of a full proposal. Proposers not submitting proposal abstracts must submit an original and six (6) copies of the full proposal and 2 electronic copies (i.e., 2 separate disks) of the full proposal [in PDF (preferred), MS-Word readable, HTML, or ASCII format, each on a single 3.5 inch High Density MS-DOS formatted 1.44 Megabyte (MB) diskette, a single 100 MB Iomega Zip (registered) disk, or a CD-ROM]. Each disk must be clearly labeled with BAA 01-32, proposer organization, proposal title (short title recommended) and Copy __ of 2. The full proposal (original and designated number of hard and electronic copies) must be submitted to DARPA/MTO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (Attn.: BAA 01-32) on or before 4:00 p.m., local time, Tuesday, October 9, 2001, in order to be considered. This notice, in conjunction with the BAA 01-32 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. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal which shall be considered by DARPA. 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 Chip-Scale Atomic Clock. 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 01-32. 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) 351-8689 (Addressed to: DARPA/MTO, BAA 01-32), Electronic Mail: BAA01-32@darpa.mil, Mail: DARPA/MTO, ATTN: BAA 01-32 , 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. LINKURL: http://www.darpa.mil LINKDESC: click here to retrieve the Proposer Information Pamphlet