RFI - Energy Efficient Integrated Photonic Networking Technologies | DE FOA 0002134

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002134

This notice is a Request for Information (RFI) from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) focused on energy-efficient integrated photonic networking technologies for communications inside datacenters and high-performance computing (HPC) systems. It is not a funding opportunity announcement and it is not accepting grant or financial assistance applications. Instead, ARPA-E is collecting technical and programmatic input to help decide whether to design and launch a future competitive funding program in this area. Any information submitted is intended to support internal program planning and will be used without attribution.

The technical focus is on photonic (optical) technologies used for short-reach and intra-system data movement, where power consumption and performance bottlenecks are major constraints for modern datacenters and HPC platforms. ARPA-E is explicitly looking for approaches that could deliver transformative improvements in system-level performance and efficiency relative to current state-of-the-art networking and interconnect solutions. In practical terms, this points to integrated photonics and related optoelectronic subsystems that reduce energy per bit, increase bandwidth density, and improve scalability of communication fabrics within compute and memory systems, racks, or tightly coupled HPC environments.

A key detail is that ARPA-E wants input on technologies capable of meeting the technical metrics that were originally laid out in the earlier ENLITENED Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA DE-FOA-0001566), but that are not already being supported under ARPA-E's existing ENLITENED project portfolio. In other words, the agency is trying to identify promising, metrics-relevant concepts and prototypes that may have been missed in the current funded set, have emerged since the ENLITENED selections, or fall outside the specific scope of the existing awards while still addressing the same high-value targets.

The maturity level requirement is also emphasized. ARPA-E is seeking technologies that are relatively advanced in development but still pre-commercial, meaning they should be beyond early-stage ideas or purely theoretical work. The RFI specifically notes that ARPA-E is not interested in unproven concepts that have not been reduced to practice; they want solutions demonstrated in the form of an operational device, component, or subsystem. This implies the agency is aiming for respondents who can point to working prototypes, validated performance measurements, integration pathways, and credible scaling/manufacturability considerations, even if the technology is not yet ready for full-scale production.

Depending on what ARPA-E learns from the responses, the agency may decide to move quickly to initiate a formal competition that could result in one or more funded collaborative research projects to advance integrated photonic networking technologies. While this RFI lists typical federal assistance instruments (such as cooperative agreements and grants) in the general opportunity metadata, the notice itself is clear that no FOA exists at this time and no awards are being made under this RFI. The opportunity is categorized under science and technology research and development (CFDA 81.135), with unrestricted eligibility in principle (open to any type of entity, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full text).

In terms of basic administrative details, the RFI is identified as DE-FOA-0002134, posted May 15, 2019, with an original response closing date of June 14, 2019. The repeated "award ceiling" and "expected awards" fields in the source listing should not be interpreted as a real funding commitment for this RFI; the document repeatedly clarifies that it is strictly an information-gathering exercise and not a solicitation for financial assistance.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "RFI - Energy Efficient Integrated Photonic Networking Technologies" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 15, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 14, 2019 This is a Request for Information only. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002134

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