http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=280784

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being used to collect White Papers in the following five Focus Areas identified by the DASD(MIBP) as Fragile and Critical IB capabilities:

1) Space Qualified Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) Infrared (IR) Sensors and Readout Integrated Circuits (ROIC) ‐ Mercury Cadmium Telluride (HgCdTe or MCT) IR sensors permit highest performance and highest technology/manufacturing readiness levels (TRL/MRL) for tactical/strategic/space applications.  Volumes for HgCdTe wafer fabrication production has plummeted well below the historical annual average.  Forecasts predict volume to fall below the minimum for this Critical technology. 

Radiation Hardened Digital/Analog Technology Production and Qualification ‐ There is currently a limited/diminishing domestic source for radiation hardened (RH) electronics that meet National Security System (NSS) requirements.  Reliable, trusted US sources of radiation hardened high performance, low power integrated circuits (IC) with advanced technology nodes at or near 45nm are needed for future DoD systems. This announcement is seeking white papers that demonstrate a capability and capacity to meet demand at established performance requirements in the following specific technology areas: digital application specific ICs, processors and memories; analog mixed signal; field programmable gate array; discretes; photonics and photovoltaics.

Thermal Batteries ‐ The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and DoD have a wider variety of uses for thermal batteries: missiles and munitions, weapon systems, ejection seats, etc.  Thermal Batteries are a niche market with highly specialized technical and manufacturing skill set.  This announcement is seeking white papers that demonstrate a plan for the development of technology for performance, reliability, manufacturing, cost, and/or storage life improvements in thermal batteries used in missiles and weapons systems.