The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is issuing an Advanced Research Concepts (ARC) Opportunity, inviting submissions of Abstracts for innovative exploratory research concepts in the technical domain of wafer bonding of thin-film crystals. This ARC Opportunity, Crystal Substrate Bonding Technologies and Algorithms (CRYSTAL), is issued under the master ARC Exploration Announcement (EA), DARPA-EA-25-02.

This ARC Opportunity is soliciting ideas to explore the following question:

To accelerate development and integration of multi-functional materials, how do we create generalizable models to explore thin film crystal bonding onto suitable substrates under diverse real-world process conditions and parameters?

CRYSTAL aims to investigate fundamental modeling frameworks for bonding thin film crystalline multi-functional materials onto compatible substrates under diverse process conditions. The target outcome is the creation of modeling frameworks for wafer fabrication and bonding, which capture interface properties and material-substrate compatibility, and enable reliable prediction of optimal wafer bonding conditions designed to meet desired material and device design parameters. Successful models developed under this solicitation will enable accelerated discovery, design, and fabrication of novel bonded single crystal thin-film material systems.

To view the entire EA, please click here. All technical, contractual, and administrative questions regarding this notice must be emailed to [email protected]. Emails sent directly to the ARC Manager or any other address may result in delayed or no response.