Electronic Warfare Basic Research

This effort conducts research in modeling, fabrication, and characterization of semiconductor materials and structures that leads to revolutionary device functionality in sensing, low power electronics, quantum networks, and power generation. This effort investigates novel complex crystal structures that can lead to devices with performance beyond normal semiconductor transistors, including neuromorphic computing structures and topological insulator based heterostructure with low operating voltage.

This research includes modeling of advanced battery materials and structures, and modeling of electromagnetic fields interacting with catalytic materials. High bandgap materials including silicon carbide and gallium nitride with modified composition will be used to fabricate diodes for improved performance as optical communication sources, sensors, and high power components. Materials, designs, and fabrication techniques will be studied for the future development of Micro-Electro- Mechanical Systems (MEMS) for radio frequency (RF) devices and sensors.

This effort seeks to identify novel physics, materials, and architectures for extending spectrum use beyond the current state-of-art (e.g., heavy use of radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) bands with classical network topologies). This effort will investigate novel energy efficient materials, structures, and storage for powering distributed sensors.

This effort investigates novel materials and architectures towards tunable short pulse and ultrashort pulse lasers beyond the current state-of-art; study the unique physics and effects of high intensity ultrashort laser pulses on matter, both in the optical and radio frequency (RF) spectrum; and investigate nonlinear materials and material systems that change their properties when exposed to short and ultrashort pulses.

This effort explores new materials, novel device architectures, and unique processing techniques to successfully maintain communication and information sharing protocols in GPS-denied, actively jammed, or austere environments.

This effort investigates and matures novel laser gain materials and other laser components with advanced thermal, thermo-mechanical, and thermo-optical properties. This effort investigates new materials and methods for controlling thermal transients to reduce the size and weight of thermal management components while increasing the energy magazine of systems operating in burst modes.

Existing machine-learning approaches are not guided by the laws governing physical systems and unable to provide predictions of a physical system response with quantifiable uncertainty. Research will explore and develop modeling techniques incorporating machine-learning approaches to support fundamental studies of physical systems. Resulting models will be used to design and develop novel physical systems, such as diamond for high power RF applications.

3D numerical modeling basic research activities are scattered and insular, not effectively leveraging the combined capabilities of Government, Academia, and Industry. The problems are diverse and complicated and need a focused and multi-disciplinary approach to gain fundamental understanding. This effort will build an ecosystem for foundational modeling and research in semiconductor materials and devices that leverages the broad combined knowledge base from academia, industry, and government laboratories to develop new and advanced semiconductor materials and devices for sensors, emitters, neuromorphic, and topological device applications.

This research seeks to investigate novel signal processing techniques to develop distributed, Global Positioning System (GPS)-independent, autonomous capabilities. This effort investigates tools and techniques for modeling, simulations, and emulation of distributed radio frequency (RF) sensors and effectors. This research investigates advanced materials-based antennas for low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C), multi-function systems.

This effort explores innovative methods to remotely sense and discriminate threat vehicle formations deep in the battlefield. This effort investigates novel mechanical wave sensing physics to enhance signal features in complex and high noise environments as well as investigates fundamental properties of electric field (E-field) and Magnetic (H)- field signals in cluttered environments.

This effort seeks to develop the fundamental understanding necessary to realize complex effects utilizing multiple geographically distributed sensor-effector nodes. This effort will develop new computational methods to accomplish simulations of complex systems that are intractable with current methods due to required interactions of multiple, dynamic physics formulations. This effort will pursue modelling and simulation to identify robust state spaces for distributed apertures capable of beam-forming, cross modal, and coherent sense and effect. Additionally, this effort will investigate sensitivity to synchronization quality and identify opportunities for cancellation and self-referencing. Focal instances include electronic warfare (EW), laser sense and effect, and kinetic effects. Science of design concepts will be investigated to efficiently pare down complex physical systems into tractable solutions including topology optimization and co-design.

This effort seeks to identify novel materials, physics, and architectures to achieve highly non-linear and high- density effects when synchronized in distributed arrays. Research will focus on enablers for emerging applications including electromagnetic (EM) windows for operation in hypersonic plasmas, compact, efficient, and multi-field array elements, intelligent-agent schemas for dynamic arrays, and novel materials for alternate EM bands.

This effort will leverage industry and academic collaboration to research milliwatt and sub-milliwatt tactical edge hardware and software for ultra-efficient artificial intelligence microelectronic accelerators with unparalleled compute power for counter-Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Cyber (C5). Research will investigate the utilization of multimodal (imaging, event-based sensing, radio frequency (RF) and acoustic) sensing and EW under Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) environments, maximizing mission length and minimizing sense-to-action timing.

Cyberspace and the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) have historically been studied as disparate fields. However, the domains associated with the two entities are not independent, but instead closely intertwined and interdependent. This research will explore the integration and interdependence of the cyber domain and the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) to discover the foundational knowledge required for future Army electromagnetic warfare applications.

A key challenge in millimeter-wave and terahertz wireless networks is blockage of the line-of-sight path between a base station and a user. This effort investigates self-accelerating electromagnetic waves which can realize a data link capable of curving around obstacles. Research may enable new communications and sensing capabilities utilizing large bandwidth in the terahertz range.

Revolutionizing autonomous systems for army applications necessitates a paradigm shift in computing, merging intelligence with self-powered, cloud-free, environment-adaptive, sensor-fused, and ultra-compact architectures. This effort explores an intelligent sensing neuromorphic framework that operates independently of the cloud, achieving self-sufficiency in sensing, computing, and power supply by integrating near-sensor and in-memory computing with on-chip energy harvesting and storage.

Effective human teams thrive not solely due to individual intelligence, but rather through effective communication, shared situational awareness, and complementary skill sets that facilitate the attainment of common objectives. To integrate autonomous agents (decision-aids or robots) as valuable team members, a shared understanding of the operational communications environment with respect to constraints, protocols, roles, responsibilities, actions, consequences, and potential threats is crucial. This effort will investigate methods for establishing and propagating shared world models, including threat assessments, within human-agent teams; explore strategies for disparate agents and humans to develop mutual understanding of strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities of adversarial communications capabilities towards the identification of opportunities to deploy offensive EW to disrupt these communications; and develop a layered security approach for resilient communications across human-autonomous agent teams.

This work supports quantum science basic research for next generation capabilities in novel field sensors and communications for Army dominance on the future battlefield, including quantum radio frequency (RF) sensing for electromagnetic warfare and advanced timing capabilities.

This effort will characterize the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomena and its capacity to extend the spatial area for sensing, communicating, and delivering technical effects through gray resource exploitation. The effort will investigate the performance of IoT for situational awareness in tactical environments, allowing for indistinguishable or deceptive planning timelines that will delay and disrupt adversary decision making. The ubiquity of gray devices and their networked connections are exploited to support rapid diffusion of information with deceptive routing and provide additional resource support to deploy or provide protection from adversarial electromagnetic attacks.

Laser propagation in low altitude, near-ground propagation regimes is challenging due to greater atmospheric turbulence closer to the ground. This research will enable greater wavefront control beyond the capabilities of current conventional deformable mirror-based systems. The effort will advance adaptive wavefront control through coherent beam combination via mode superposition and turbulence characterization.

Nuclear isomers offer unique properties capable of laying the foundation for multiple new applications/capabilities, including portable clocks for position, navigation, and timing (PNT) and a more stable quantum bit for quantum computing, sensing, and metrology. The Thorium-229 (Th-229) isomer offers a low energy nuclear transition that occurs outside of a vacuum and does not require cryogenics. This research will explore Th-229 materials design, synthesis, characterization towards more sensitive and robust future PNT and sensing applications.

Research at the intersection of materials science, nanophotonics, and nanofabrication can create structural color throughout and beyond the visible spectrum (ultraviolet (UV), visible, infrared (IR)). This effort will pursue bottom-up (self-assembly), top-down (direct-write 3D printing), and hybrid approaches to creating and engineering structural color materials. Work in this task will lead to the first structural color materials with light-matter interactions in the UV and IR, amenable to conformal/flexible coatings to provide signature management functionality beyond current paint/coating formulations.

This effort will research novel radio frequency (RF) architectures (novel mixer-less, swept-frequency, and spectrum sensor for enabling tunable, long life electronic sensing (ES) components) and enabling components for adaptation to multiple electronic attack (EA) bands (state of the art tunable RF filters and RF power detectors) to reduce sensor cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWaP) by several orders of magnitude.

The Army Radio Frequency (RF) Electronics Center will develop ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials and device concepts designed to enable next generation RF semiconductor technology for the Army. This research will enable advanced, robust, high-power RF electronics for radars, comms, directed energy, and electronic warfare (EW). The resulting robust high-power operation will provide longer ranges for sensing and effect-on-target under adverse conditions and improved sized, weight, and power (SWaP) will give small systems (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, countermeasures, etc.) new capabilities.

The Center for Semiconductor Modeling of Materials and Devices (CSM) investigates the development of new electronic materials for electronic warfare, sensing, radar, and communication. Modeling tools enable high fidelity semiconductor material and device simulation to reduce the number of developmental fabrication runs. The intent of the CSM is to simulate real materials and devices in realistic environments, understand the limits and parameters of the technology and its performance, and arrive at designs which will reproducibly deliver to requirements. Coupled with experimental validation, the CSM will employ these models to accelerate the development of ultrawide bandgap microelectronics component technologies to accelerate the development of electronic warfare (EW) component technologies for disruptive EW applications including distributed radar, near-field comms, and low-SWAP antennas.

Understanding the interplay between electrochemical reactions and mechanical stress/strain is critical for designing next-generation energy storage materials that resist degradation at high voltages and high charge/discharge rates. By uncovering how chemically-induced cracks, delamination, and interfacial degradation initiate and propagate at the microscopic level, researchers could develop novel electrode and electrolyte chemistries and interfaces that respond dynamically to prevent failure.

This effort conducts research in modeling, fabrication, and characterization of semiconductor materials and structures that leads to revolutionary device functionality in sensing, low power electronics, quantum networks, and power generation. This effort investigates novel complex crystal structures that can lead to devices with performance beyond normal semiconductor transistors, including neuromorphic computing structures and topological insulator based heterostructure with low operating voltage.

This research includes modeling of advanced battery materials and structures, and modeling of electromagnetic fields interacting with catalytic materials. High bandgap materials including silicon carbide and gallium nitride with modified composition will be used to fabricate diodes for improved performance as optical communication sources, sensors, and high power components. Materials, designs, and fabrication techniques will be studied for the future development of Micro-Electro- Mechanical Systems (MEMS) for radio frequency (RF) devices and sensors.

This effort seeks to identify novel physics, materials, and architectures for extending spectrum use beyond the current state-of-art (e.g., heavy use of radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) bands with classical network topologies). This effort will investigate novel energy efficient materials, structures, and storage for powering distributed sensors.

This effort investigates novel materials and architectures towards tunable short pulse and ultrashort pulse lasers beyond the current state-of-art; study the unique physics and effects of high intensity ultrashort laser pulses on matter, both in the optical and radio frequency (RF) spectrum; and investigate nonlinear materials and material systems that change their properties when exposed to short and ultrashort pulses.

This effort explores new materials, novel device architectures, and unique processing techniques to successfully maintain communication and information sharing protocols in GPS-denied, actively jammed, or austere environments.

This effort investigates and matures novel laser gain materials and other laser components with advanced thermal, thermo-mechanical, and thermo-optical properties. This effort investigates new materials and methods for controlling thermal transients to reduce the size and weight of thermal management components while increasing the energy magazine of systems operating in burst modes.

Existing machine-learning approaches are not guided by the laws governing physical systems and unable to provide predictions of a physical system response with quantifiable uncertainty. Research will explore and develop modeling techniques incorporating machine-learning approaches to support fundamental studies of physical systems. Resulting models will be used to design and develop novel physical systems, such as diamond for high power RF applications.

3D numerical modeling basic research activities are scattered and insular, not effectively leveraging the combined capabilities of Government, Academia, and Industry. The problems are diverse and complicated and need a focused and multi-disciplinary approach to gain fundamental understanding. This effort will build an ecosystem for foundational modeling and research in semiconductor materials and devices that leverages the broad combined knowledge base from academia, industry, and government laboratories to develop new and advanced semiconductor materials and devices for sensors, emitters, neuromorphic, and topological device applications.

This research seeks to investigate novel signal processing techniques to develop distributed, Global Positioning System (GPS)-independent, autonomous capabilities. This effort investigates tools and techniques for modeling, simulations, and emulation of distributed radio frequency (RF) sensors and effectors. This research investigates advanced materials-based antennas for low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C), multi-function systems.

This effort explores innovative methods to remotely sense and discriminate threat vehicle formations deep in the battlefield. This effort investigates novel mechanical wave sensing physics to enhance signal features in complex and high noise environments as well as investigates fundamental properties of electric field (E-field) and Magnetic (H)- field signals in cluttered environments.

This effort seeks to develop the fundamental understanding necessary to realize complex effects utilizing multiple geographically distributed sensor-effector nodes. This effort will develop new computational methods to accomplish simulations of complex systems that are intractable with current methods due to required interactions of multiple, dynamic physics formulations. This effort will pursue modelling and simulation to identify robust state spaces for distributed apertures capable of beam-forming, cross modal, and coherent sense and effect. Additionally, this effort will investigate sensitivity to synchronization quality and identify opportunities for cancellation and self-referencing. Focal instances include electronic warfare (EW), laser sense and effect, and kinetic effects. Science of design concepts will be investigated to efficiently pare down complex physical systems into tractable solutions including topology optimization and co-design.

This effort seeks to identify novel materials, physics, and architectures to achieve highly non-linear and high- density effects when synchronized in distributed arrays. Research will focus on enablers for emerging applications including electromagnetic (EM) windows for operation in hypersonic plasmas, compact, efficient, and multi-field array elements, intelligent-agent schemas for dynamic arrays, and novel materials for alternate EM bands.

This effort will leverage industry and academic collaboration to research milliwatt and sub-milliwatt tactical edge hardware and software for ultra-efficient artificial intelligence microelectronic accelerators with unparalleled compute power for counter-Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Cyber (C5). Research will investigate the utilization of multimodal (imaging, event-based sensing, radio frequency (RF) and acoustic) sensing and EW under Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) environments, maximizing mission length and minimizing sense-to-action timing.

Cyberspace and the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) have historically been studied as disparate fields. However, the domains associated with the two entities are not independent, but instead closely intertwined and interdependent. This research will explore the integration and interdependence of the cyber domain and the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) to discover the foundational knowledge required for future Army electromagnetic warfare applications.

A key challenge in millimeter-wave and terahertz wireless networks is blockage of the line-of-sight path between a base station and a user. This effort investigates self-accelerating electromagnetic waves which can realize a data link capable of curving around obstacles. Research may enable new communications and sensing capabilities utilizing large bandwidth in the terahertz range.

Revolutionizing autonomous systems for army applications necessitates a paradigm shift in computing, merging intelligence with self-powered, cloud-free, environment-adaptive, sensor-fused, and ultra-compact architectures. This effort explores an intelligent sensing neuromorphic framework that operates independently of the cloud, achieving self-sufficiency in sensing, computing, and power supply by integrating near-sensor and in-memory computing with on-chip energy harvesting and storage.

Effective human teams thrive not solely due to individual intelligence, but rather through effective communication, shared situational awareness, and complementary skill sets that facilitate the attainment of common objectives. To integrate autonomous agents (decision-aids or robots) as valuable team members, a shared understanding of the operational communications environment with respect to constraints, protocols, roles, responsibilities, actions, consequences, and potential threats is crucial. This effort will investigate methods for establishing and propagating shared world models, including threat assessments, within human-agent teams; explore strategies for disparate agents and humans to develop mutual understanding of strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities of adversarial communications capabilities towards the identification of opportunities to deploy offensive EW to disrupt these communications; and develop a layered security approach for resilient communications across human-autonomous agent teams.

This work supports quantum science basic research for next generation capabilities in novel field sensors and communications for Army dominance on the future battlefield, including quantum radio frequency (RF) sensing for electromagnetic warfare and advanced timing capabilities.

This effort will characterize the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomena and its capacity to extend the spatial area for sensing, communicating, and delivering technical effects through gray resource exploitation. The effort will investigate the performance of IoT for situational awareness in tactical environments, allowing for indistinguishable or deceptive planning timelines that will delay and disrupt adversary decision making. The ubiquity of gray devices and their networked connections are exploited to support rapid diffusion of information with deceptive routing and provide additional resource support to deploy or provide protection from adversarial electromagnetic attacks.

Laser propagation in low altitude, near-ground propagation regimes is challenging due to greater atmospheric turbulence closer to the ground. This research will enable greater wavefront control beyond the capabilities of current conventional deformable mirror-based systems. The effort will advance adaptive wavefront control through coherent beam combination via mode superposition and turbulence characterization.

Nuclear isomers offer unique properties capable of laying the foundation for multiple new applications/capabilities, including portable clocks for position, navigation, and timing (PNT) and a more stable quantum bit for quantum computing, sensing, and metrology. The Thorium-229 (Th-229) isomer offers a low energy nuclear transition that occurs outside of a vacuum and does not require cryogenics. This research will explore Th-229 materials design, synthesis, characterization towards more sensitive and robust future PNT and sensing applications.

Research at the intersection of materials science, nanophotonics, and nanofabrication can create structural color throughout and beyond the visible spectrum (ultraviolet (UV), visible, infrared (IR)). This effort will pursue bottom-up (self-assembly), top-down (direct-write 3D printing), and hybrid approaches to creating and engineering structural color materials. Work in this task will lead to the first structural color materials with light-matter interactions in the UV and IR, amenable to conformal/flexible coatings to provide signature management functionality beyond current paint/coating formulations.

This effort will research novel radio frequency (RF) architectures (novel mixer-less, swept-frequency, and spectrum sensor for enabling tunable, long life electronic sensing (ES) components) and enabling components for adaptation to multiple electronic attack (EA) bands (state of the art tunable RF filters and RF power detectors) to reduce sensor cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWaP) by several orders of magnitude.

The Army Radio Frequency (RF) Electronics Center will develop ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials and device concepts designed to enable next generation RF semiconductor technology for the Army. This research will enable advanced, robust, high-power RF electronics for radars, comms, directed energy, and electronic warfare (EW). The resulting robust high-power operation will provide longer ranges for sensing and effect-on-target under adverse conditions and improved sized, weight, and power (SWaP) will give small systems (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, countermeasures, etc.) new capabilities.

The Center for Semiconductor Modeling of Materials and Devices (CSM) investigates the development of new electronic materials for electronic warfare, sensing, radar, and communication. Modeling tools enable high fidelity semiconductor material and device simulation to reduce the number of developmental fabrication runs. The intent of the CSM is to simulate real materials and devices in realistic environments, understand the limits and parameters of the technology and its performance, and arrive at designs which will reproducibly deliver to requirements. Coupled with experimental validation, the CSM will employ these models to accelerate the development of ultrawide bandgap microelectronics component technologies to accelerate the development of electronic warfare (EW) component technologies for disruptive EW applications including distributed radar, near-field comms, and low-SWAP antennas.

Understanding the interplay between electrochemical reactions and mechanical stress/strain is critical for designing next-generation energy storage materials that resist degradation at high voltages and high charge/discharge rates. By uncovering how chemically-induced cracks, delamination, and interfacial degradation initiate and propagate at the microscopic level, researchers could develop novel electrode and electrolyte chemistries and interfaces that respond dynamically to prevent failure.