Innovation Funding Database
Quantum & Photonics Funding
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Types of Opportunities
Broad Topics
Broad topics cover wide areas of interest where the government wants solutions. They’re open-ended and give you room to define how your idea fits the mission.
Specific Topics
Specific topics describe clearly defined needs with exact technical goals or outcomes. They’re focused requests for solutions that meet specific requirements.
Broad Topic Opportunities:
Start Applying ASAP:
Either the deadline is approaching or there is a competitive reason for applying early (such as funds that will be awarded on a first come first serve basis)
Deadline: Rolling deadline until December 31, 2026
Funding Award Size: Est. $500K to $5M
Description: Rolling submission program connecting commercial technologies to USSOCOM needs across AI, ISR, cyber, mobility, medical, and more, with multiple non-dilutive funding pathways.
Deadline: Rolling Deadline Until September 30, 2026
Funding Award Size: Est. $500K to $5M
Description: Funding for basic and applied research across defense-critical areas including AI, materials, energy, cybersecurity, sensing, and space systems to advance U.S. Navy capabilities.
Deadline: Apply ASAP. Rolling Deadline until May 16, 2026
Funding Award Size: $500k - $2m
Description: Funding for innovative R&D solutions supporting FBI enterprise technology problem sets, including AI, cybersecurity, biometrics, counterintelligence, and data fabric.
Deadline: February 27, 2026
Funding Award Size: $500 - $50 Million
Description: Funding vehicle enabling AFRL to award unclassified science and technology research task orders across air, space, cyber, and cross-cutting defense domains.
Deadline: Rolling Project Pitches
Funding Award Size: $305K + $1.25M+ in follow-on funding
Description: Non-dilutive funding for early-stage startups to develop high-risk, high-impact technologies based on novel science or engineering, with strong commercial and societal potential.
Deadline: June 2, 2026
Funding Award Size: Est. $2 million
Description: Funding for revolutionary basic or applied research that advances science, devices, or systems for national security applications.
Deadline: Estimated: Q4 2025, Q1 2026
Funding Award Size: $75K to $1.8 million
Description: A flexible SBIR/STTR vehicle for technologies with commercial value that could provide similar value to the Space Force or Air Force.
Deadline: Rolling Basis - Apply ASAP before funds are gone.
Funding Award Size: $10 Million or more.
Description: Funding for research, prototyping, and commercialization projects that advance U.S. microelectronics, including work tied to AI, quantum, biotechnology/biomanufacturing, commercialization of innovation, and standards.
Specific Topic Opportunities:
Start Applying ASAP:
Either the deadline is approaching or there is a competitive reason for applying early (such as funds that will be awarded on a first come first serve basis)
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop RF photonic front-end technologies that enhance the resilience, bandwidth, and interference resistance of communications and navigation systems, enabling reliable wireless connectivity and assured position, navigation, and timing (PNT) in contested electromagnetic environments.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Develop nonlinear optical dyes embedded in sol-gel glass that act as optical power limiters to protect EO/IR sensors from frequency-agile lasers and dazzlers while maintaining high infrared transmission and fast response times.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $2 Million (Estimated)
Description: Develop a U.S.-based pilot manufacturing process to produce high-purity zirconium and hafnium metal-organic precursors (e.g., TDMAZ, TDMAH) used in semiconductor, microelectronics, and advanced ceramic manufacturing via ALD, CVD, and CVI deposition processes.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Develop a high-speed telemetry antenna system for reentry test bodies that transmits encrypted inflight data via K/Ka-band links to geostationary satellites, enabling real-time communication and improved data capture during ballistic missile flight testing.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop a high-power (10W CW) blue laser (425–475 nm) with long coherence length (>10 m) and high pulse repetition (>100 MHz) for reliable continuous operation in demanding Navy environments.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop passive, thermal-equilibrium alkali atom sources (Rb/Cs) with synthetically controlled vapor density to simplify thermal management and improve stability/SWaP for practical atom-based quantum sensors.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Develop low-cost, moldable metastructure or frequency-selective materials that can adhere to naval platforms and protect RF, microwave, and EO/IR systems while maintaining broadband performance and durability in harsh maritime environments.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop a 3D heterogeneously integrated photonic imaging sensor that combines detector arrays, electronics, and optical data links to enable ultra-high bandwidth, high-resolution, and high-frame-rate EO/IR imaging for advanced defense sensing systems.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop automated and additive manufacturing methods to produce durable, high-precision optical components and mirrors for high-energy laser beam director systems used in maritime defense environments.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop a low-SWaP, covert, non-RF maritime transceiver (e.g., acoustic/IR/UV) enabling secure, interference-resistant communications over 5+ km with LPI/LPD and flexible data rates up to 10MB/s for contested environments.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Funding to develop a compact, battery-powered 3–5 µm MWIR hyperspectral video camera using photonic crystal/on-chip spectral multiplexing to capture high-definition, real-time (up to 125 Hz) hyperspectral video for mobile defense sensing platforms.
Deadline: April 29, 2026 (Estimated)
Funding Award Size: $240,000 (Estimated)
Description: Develop adaptive signal-processing technology that removes complex, non-stationary noise from RF and acoustic sensing systems while preserving critical signal features. The goal is robust denoising capable of improving detection performance by 10 dB or more in dynamic operational environments.
Deadline: March 31, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET
Funding Award Size: Est. $1M to $5M
Description: Funding to develop and demonstrate ultra-low-energy, high-speed logic devices that surpass CMOS performance limits for next-generation defense computing applications.
Deadline: May 6, 2026
Funding Award Size: $300k
Description: U.S. Army xTech Phantum Competition offers small businesses a path to $300K SBIR funding for quantum sensors and photonics. White papers due May 6, 2026.