# Electronics Materials and Processes

**R-2A activity** of project 1506 — Materials/Electronics  
**Program element:** 0601153N — Defense Research Sciences  
**Component:** U.S. Navy · **Budget Activity:** 1  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601153N/1506/a9  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601153N/1506

## Summary

This activity requests $37.9M in FY2027, 35% of project 1506, down 10% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2026–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Continue research investigations of electronic materials essential to the sensors, electronics, and electronic warfare systems needed for future US naval dominance. - Continue theoretical, numerical, and experimental research in Power Electronics Science to create an improved understanding and realization of power electronic materials, device physics, and methods and techniques. This effort will inform power electronic devices and components regarding applicability for power conversion, power distribution, and protection with reduced Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) and improve performance of military systems. - Continue research efforts regarding the invention and understanding of new phenomena, concepts and materials for the creation, transmission, modulation and detection of electromagnetic waves throughout the ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions in Optical Sciences. - Continue research into Plasma Science to provide revolutionary advances in the fundamental understanding of the underlying physical processes necessary to control the interaction of electromagnetic energy and charged particles. These efforts are applicable to a variety of applications, including sensors, communications, novel compact accelerators, and materials processing, and improve the Navy's ability to operate in a range of extreme environments and conditions. - Continue research into Electric Weapons Science regarding the development of a next-generation of electric weapons. Research efforts will include, but are not limited to, high-power lasers, microwaves, directed energy systems and electromagnetic launchers. - Continue research of Electronic, Magnetic and Optical Materials. Research investigations include the exploration of novel experimental methods, as well as theoretical and computational models to elucidate materials behavior spanning the range of physical properties of materials including electronic, magnetic, optical, thermal, mechanical, and quantum behaviors. - Continue research in Electric Sciences to perform basic theoretical, numerical, and experimental research to develop an improved understanding and realization of electronic devices with potential applicability to computation, radar, electronic warfare, communications, navigation, and sensing systems. - Continue research efforts to create new knowledge and understanding and explore new concepts, components, techniques and methods, for the design, growth, and characterization of electronic, electromagnetic, quantum phenomenology, and electro-optical materials, fabrication processes, electronic and electro-optic components, including novel electromagnetic concepts and techniques, and plasma phenomena and theory. - Continue basic research in Quantum Information Science regarding experimental and theoretical research to harness the properties of quantum superposition, entanglement and non-classical correlation for Navy applications in sensing, secure communications and networking, and information processing. - Continue research into Electric Materials - which aims to discover and investigate electronic materials essential to the sensors, electronics, and electronic warfare systems needed for future US naval dominance. Because electronic materials are the primary building block of all electronic devices, this encompasses a wide variety of growth techniques of semiconductors, superconductors, and insulators. These techniques include molecular beam epitaxy, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition, vapor phase epitaxy, and patterned electron beam deposition. In addition, the transfer and placement of atomically thin monolayer films with widely different bandgaps, lattice constants, and crystal orientations grown by the above techniques will allow the creation of entirely new classes of materials with uniquely tailored properties. Such "materials by design" will be engineered to enhance specific properties needed for future electronic devices. In parallel with the above approaches, advanced materials processing techniques will be created and investigated to allow the fabrication of these envisioned devices. These efforts will require nanometer-scale fabrication techniques approaching atomic level control of both the constituent electronic materials and their interfaces. These fabrication techniques include electron beam and focused ion beam lithography as well as atomic force microscope nanometer-scale patterning and hyperthermal ion implantation, the latter two techniques pioneered at NRL. This two-pronged parallel approach will involve both experimental, theoretical, and numerical simulation efforts aimed at producing the electronic structures needed for future sensors, electronics, and electronic warfare. The ultimate goal of these efforts will enable the creation of the electronic components of integrated naval systems forming the core of detection and countering of threats to the fleet and the targeting of counterforce operations against these threats.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Funding decrease from FY 2026 to FY 2027 is due to reduced research into Electric Materials, Quantum Information Science regarding experimental and theoretical research, and Electronic, Magnetic and Optical Materials.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Continue research investigations of electronic materials essential to the sensors, electronics, and electronic warfare systems needed for future US naval dominance. - Continue theoretical, numerical, and experimental research in Power Electronics Science to create an improved understanding and realization of power electronic materials, device physics, and methods and techniques. This effort will inform power electronic devices and components regarding applicability for power conversion, power distribution, and protection with reduced Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) and improve performance of military systems. - Continue research efforts regarding the invention and understanding of new phenomena, concepts and materials for the creation, transmission, modulation and detection of electromagnetic waves throughout the ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions in Optical Sciences. - Continue research into Plasma Science to provide revolutionary advances in the fundamental understanding of the underlying physical processes necessary to control the interaction of electromagnetic energy and charged particles. These efforts are applicable to a variety of applications, including sensors, communications, novel compact accelerators, and materials processing, and improve the Navy's ability to operate in a range of extreme environments and conditions. - Continue research into Electric Weapons Science regarding the development of a next-generation of electric weapons. Research efforts will include, but are not limited to, high-power lasers, microwaves, directed energy systems and electromagnetic launchers. - Continue research of Electronic, Magnetic and Optical Materials. Research investigations include the exploration of novel experimental methods, as well as theoretical and computational models to elucidate materials behavior spanning the range of physical properties of materials including electronic, magnetic, optical, thermal, mechanical, and quantum behaviors. - Continue research in Electric Sciences to perform basic theoretical, numerical, and experimental research to develop an improved understanding and realization of electronic devices with potential applicability to computation, radar, electronic warfare, communications, navigation, and sensing systems. - Continue research efforts to create new knowledge and understanding and explore new concepts, components, techniques and methods, for the design, growth, and characterization of electronic, electromagnetic, quantum phenomenology, and electro-optical materials, fabrication processes, electronic and electro-optic components, including novel electromagnetic concepts and techniques, and plasma phenomena and theory. - Continue basic research in Quantum Information Science regarding experimental and theoretical research to harness the properties of quantum superposition, entanglement and non-classical correlation for Navy applications in sensing, secure communications and networking, and information processing. - Initiate research into Electric Materials - which aims to discover and investigate electronic materials essential to the sensors, electronics, and electronic warfare systems needed for future US naval dominance. Because electronic materials are the primary building block of all electronic devices, this encompasses a wide variety of growth techniques of semiconductors, superconductors, and insulators. These techniques include molecular beam epitaxy, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition, vapor phase epitaxy, and patterned electron beam deposition. In addition, the transfer and placement of atomically thin monolayer films with widely different bandgaps, lattice constants, and crystal orientations grown by the above techniques will allow the creation of entirely new classes of materials with uniquely tailored properties. Such "materials by design" will be engineered to enhance specific properties needed for future electronic devices. In parallel with the above approaches, advanced materials processing techniques will be created and investigated to allow the fabrication of these envisioned devices. These efforts will require nanometer-scale fabrication techniques approaching atomic level control of both the constituent electronic materials and their interfaces. These fabrication techniques include electron beam and focused ion beam lithography as well as atomic force microscope nanometer-scale patterning and hyperthermal ion implantation, the latter two techniques pioneered at NRL. This two-pronged parallel approach will involve both experimental, theoretical, and numerical simulation efforts aimed at producing the electronic structures needed for future sensors, electronics, and electronic warfare. The ultimate goal of these efforts will enable the creation of the electronic components of integrated naval systems forming the core of detection and countering of threats to the fleet and the targeting of counterforce operations against these threats.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 42.1 |
| FY2027 | Request | 37.9 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project 1506

- [Materials and Chemistry](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0601153N/1506/a8) — FY2027 45.1
- Functional Materials — FY2027 6.3
- Materials — FY2027 6.0
- Structural Materials — FY2027 5.6
- Nanoscale Computing Devices and Systems — FY2027 4.7
- Electronics and Sensors Technology — FY2027 4.0
- Expeditionary Electromagnetic Spectrum — FY2027 0.0
- Expeditionary Electronics — FY2027 0.0
- Expeditionary Materials — FY2027 0.0

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0601153N project 1506 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*