Huntsville, Ala. – CFD Research has been awarded a NASA contract to advance the development of a novel Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) technology designed to deliver significantly lower size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) compared to conventional electronic systems used in NASA missions.
This award builds on promising prior work and supports the development of reconfigurable and adaptive photonic systems capable of maintaining performance under the extreme conditions of space operations including radiation. The proposed PIC will be programmed to perform basic radio frequency (RF) applications.
“This award allows us to push forward in developing photonic systems that could offer major SWaP-C advantages over traditional electronics,” said Karthikeyan Lingasubramanian, the project’s Principal Investigator. “We’re grateful to our internal team and collaborators for their contributions and excited to continue advancing this capability.”
Unlike traditional electronic platforms, the proposed PIC leverages advanced phase change materials (PCM), specifically Sb₂S₃ and Sb₂Se₃, to enable compact, non-volatile, low-loss, and broadband optical switching. These materials demonstrated strong performance indicators, including low insertion loss (less than 1.0 dB), high extinction ratio (greater than 10 dB), and support for multi-bit operation across more than 1,000 switching cycles.
In a previous effort, CFD Research successfully fabricated individual PIC components with electrical actuation and used reduced order modeling (ROM) to simulate a fully programmable PIC system. This follow-on effort will focus on the design optimization, fabrication, and experimental validation of a prototype system, including testing under radiation. Selected designs will be delivered to NASA for evaluation and potential future integration.
“This contract highlights the growing impact of photonic technologies and the strength of our team’s innovation,” said Ashok Raman, Senior Director of Energy & Materials. “It’s a meaningful step toward scalable, resilient systems for future NASA missions.”
This achievement reflects CFD Research’s continued leadership in developing cutting-edge solutions for national and space exploration challenges.
About CFD Research: Since its inception in 1987, CFD Research has delivered innovative technology solutions within the Aerospace & Defense, Biomedical & Life Sciences, Intelligence & Sensing, and Energy & Materials industries. CFD Research has earned multiple national awards for successful application and commercialization of innovative component/system technology prototypes, multi-physics simulation software, multi-disciplinary analyses, and expert support services. Based in Huntsville, Alabama where laboratory facilities and headquarters are located, CFD Research also has office and laboratory facilities in Dayton, Ohio, prototyping test and evaluation facilities in Hollywood, Alabama, and office facilities in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. CFD Research is an ISO9001:AS9100D registered company and is appraised at CMMI Level II for Services. CFD Research is a 100% ESOP (employee-owned company) recognized in Inc. Magazine’s Inc5000 as a top growing company for four of last five years. Learn more at www.cfd-research.com.
