The US Air Force has awarded a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer grant to Structured Materials Industries (SMI) Inc. of Piscataway, N.J., to develop a silicon-based laser. The project will build on a current Phase II effort to develop a silicon modulator.The company, in conjunction with Cornell University, aims to integrate the diverse components of electro-optic devices into a single compact chip and to achieve this in silicon, a step toward the ultimate goal of fully integrated silicon photonics.