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Metamaterials Lens

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 		Award ID:
86318 		Program Year/Program:
2009 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
07SB2-0496 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N/A 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
DMS Technology, Inc.
2905 Westcorp Blvd. Suite # 220 Huntsville, AL -
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Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 2
Fiscal Year: 2009
Title: Metamaterials Lens
Agency / Branch: DOD / DARPA
Contract: W31P4Q-10-C-0032
Award Amount: $749,995.00
 

Abstract:

The novelty of our proposed research is that we plan to use nano-dispersed liquid crystals (NDLCs) for broadband tunable negative-zero-positive index materials to control reflection and transmission of light and capable of imaging beyond the diffractive limit of the visible spectrum. The possibility of realizing nonmagnetic negative index materials by dispersing metallic spheres in the bulk of a host anisotropic material, such as LC, will be investigated using three different approaches. LC's can be fabricated easily and at low cost. An applied electric field or magnetic field will provide tunability through modulation of the net refractive index as shown in Phase I. LC host with parallel, tilted (45o), and fishnet groove structures will be dispersed with a binary photonic alloy that consists of plasmonic and polaritonic spheres of submicron size. Typical plasmonic/polaritonic materials for this frequency range are Ge/LiTaO3 nanospheres. Cholesteric LCs, which has an inherent chirality, will also be dispersed with binary or core-shell nanospheres. Finally, we suggest designing NIMs based on two organometallic molecules which constitute the monomer units of a chiral polymer. Although the chirality may be smaller than the critical value required for NI in the virgin material, NI nonetheless can be achieved through the introduction of plasmonic metal nanoparticles.

Principal Investigator:

Aniruddha Achari
Chief Technical Officer
2565364346
aachari@dmstech.net

Business Contact:

Sarat Praharaj
Vice President
2565364346
spraharaj@aol.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

DMS TECHNOLOGY, INC.
2905 Westcorp Blvd. Suite # 220 ville, AL 35805

EIN/Tax ID: 582593612
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No