Quantum and Defense Tech Breakthroughs: Aeluma's Silicon Integration Strategy Gains Government Traction

Aeluma, the semiconductor innovator behind a transformative manufacturing approach, has landed major development contracts from NASA and the U.S. Navy, signaling accelerated progress in quantum photonics and next-generation sensing systems. These government partnerships underscore the practical viability of Aeluma’s core technology: embedding high-performance compound semiconductors onto mass-produced silicon substrates.

From Lab to Production: The Silicon-Based Quantum Path

The challenge plaguing quantum photonics has always been manufacturability at scale. Quantum circuits traditionally require expensive, bespoke fabrication approaches that limit deployment and inflate costs. Aeluma’s recent technical demonstration flipped this problem by successfully integrating nonlinear optical materials on standard 200mm CMOS silicon wafers—the same substrates used in consumer electronics manufacturing worldwide.

This achievement matters because it directly addresses NASA’s stringent SWaP requirements (size, weight, and power). By placing entangled photon sources—essential building blocks for quantum computing and secure communications—onto industry-standard silicon, Aeluma creates a pathway to scale quantum photonic circuits beyond laboratory prototypes. The NASA contract now funds the commercialization push for these entangled photon systems.

Military Sensors Meet Commercial Demands

The Navy contract zooms in on a different application: compact, multi-spectrum imaging for submarine and undersea platforms. Here, Aeluma’s capability to integrate shortwave infrared (SWIR) sensors directly onto silicon enables dual-spectrum VIS (visible) + SWIR imaging on a single chip. This integration reduces size and weight while maintaining performance—exactly what modern defense systems demand.

Notably, this same sensor technology tracks with Aeluma’s commercial roadmap for mobile devices, AR/VR systems, robotics, and industrial applications. What begins as a defense requirement often becomes a mass-market product, and Aeluma is structured to capitalize on this crossover opportunity.

Strategic Positioning in High-Growth Markets

Aeluma’s platform advantage rests on a simple but powerful idea: combine the electrical and optical performance of compound semiconductors with the manufacturing scale and cost structure of silicon. This unlocks applications across AI accelerators, autonomous vehicles, quantum systems, and advanced sensing—all sectors experiencing explosive demand.

Jonathan Klamkin, Aeluma’s founder and CEO, frames these government contracts as momentum builders that validate the company’s technical approach while funding further development. Each award strengthens relationships with government agencies, technology partners, and eventual customers across defense, aerospace, and emerging commercial segments.

The company, headquartered in Santa Barbara with its own state-of-the-art manufacturing cleanroom, differentiates itself through rapid prototyping capability and proprietary semiconductor processes. These NASA and Navy contracts represent the next chapter in proving that high-performance photonics can be built using the manufacturing playbook of the semiconductor industry—a shift that could reshape how quantum and sensing technologies scale globally.