Wideband Antenna for RF Photonics Modules

STTR topic DAF27TZ02-DV006 (U.S. Department of Defense – Air Force), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses; STTR projects partner with a U.S. research institution. Opens: December 2, 2026. Closes: January 6, 2027. Given its inherent broadband capabilities, RF photonics is a promising technology for both civilian and military applications. It is employed in several platforms, including autonomous vehicles, UAVs, and mobile devices, to sense and navigate complex environments and detect and track mobile targets, among many other use-case scenarios. Current studies are establishing and advancing RF photonic technology for several applications. However, these advances, especially in the radio frequencies or lower millimeter-wave regime, are still based on bulky antenna solutions, preventing the realization of compact systems that can be easily accommodated in small platforms. Proposals are sought to provide innovative antenna solutions addressing the need for integration with commonly packaged RF photonic modules without impacting their operation bandwidth. The proposed efforts shall build upon the existing integration-friendly antenna solutions to develop a novel antenna technology amenable to integrating electrically small broadband RF-photonic modules. By the end of Phase I, a broadband antenna module compatible with RF-photonics should be numerically analyzed. Phase II should focus on a proof-of-concept experiment of the integrated broadband antenna module with a selected RF photonics system. Overall, this topic aims to advance RF photonics technology with integrated antennas to meet demanding requirements, such as large bandwidth, reduced size and weight, and low profile. Relevant metrics that the proposers should consider are an antenna solution fully compatible to be integrated with the standard packaging topologies of RF photonic modules, an antenna module with excellent performance in the high RF regime, and with a bandwidth beyond Chu's limit.…