Low SWaP, 2-micron Fiber Amplifiers

SBIR topic DAF27BZ01-DV010 (U.S. Department of Defense – Air Force), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses. Opens: October 28, 2026. Closes: November 25, 2026. High-power fiber lasers operating in the 2-micron regime offer critical advantages for defense, medical, and industrial applications, including eye-safer directed energy, advanced sensing, and precision materials processing. While kilowatt-class, narrow-linewidth thulium-doped fiber amplifiers have been demonstrated, the Department of the Air Force aims to reduce the size and weight of existing kilowatt-class 2-micron fiber amplifiers into a highly compact system with similar size, weight, and power metrics of existing 1-micron fiber amplifiers. This topic seeks to leverage existing Air Force laboratory architectures to prime industry for production of robust 2-micron fiber amplifiers, paving the way for transition into active directed energy programs. Official solicitation: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/