Crystal Palace aims to accelerate microsystem innovation by addressing a growing challenge: the ability to reliably grow the high-quality crystals that underpin advanced materials.
These crystalline structures, defined by precise, repeating atomic arrangements, are essential to the performance of technologies ranging from radar and communications systems to autonomous platforms. While artificial intelligence and machine learning now enable the design of increasingly complex materials with strong defense and commercial potential, many of these materials have never been successfully grown as uniform single crystals over a large scale. Existing tools struggle to produce such materials at the size, quality, and consistency required for practical use, slowing the transition from discovery to real-world application.
Crystal Palace aims to bridge the gap between material design and use by developing fundamentally new tools and techniques that enable local, precise, and generalizable control of material growth, allowing complex inorganic materials to be synthesized as uniform single crystals directly on microsystem-relevant substrates.
Over a 36-month effort, performers will first demonstrate scalable control of composition and crystal structure for a single complex material, then prove the generality of their approach by rapidly producing multiple, increasingly complex materials with breakthrough properties. By aligning advances in material growth capabilities with the accelerating pace of AI-driven materials design, Crystal Palace aims to lay a foundation for faster microsystem innovation and strengthen the U.S. technology base for future Department of War needs.
Researchers interested in learning more about Crystal Palace and/or submitting a proposal are encouraged to review the program solicitation on SAM.gov and the Crystal Palace Proposers Day video replay.
Please note that proposer abstracts (strongly encouraged but not required) are due Dec. 19, 2025. A subsequent notice of intent to propose is required by Jan. 16, 2026, with full proposals due Jan. 30, 2026.
