Stable tunable diode lasers suitable for industrial environments are cost prohibitive. Lower-cost systems suffer from unstable wavelength behavior and mode hopping requiring operation by highly-trained personnel. The development of low cost, compact and robust tunable diode lasers is required for… More

A novel approach to the problem of surface-selective chiral detection is presented. In a small and potentially inexpensive optical package, chiral molecules adsorbed to the surface of a guided wave optic are probed via the evanescent field of the guided radiation. Single-mode guided-wave optics are… More

Surface enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) has great potential as a tool chemical and biological detection. First, ultra-sensitivity is provided by remarkable Raman enhancement factors (>10^14); even delving into the ultimate limit for any sensor, singlemolecule detection. Second, since Raman… More

The near chiral purity of the biosphere leads to a vast array of chiro-specific physiological responses. This chiro-specificity, in turn, gives rise to the need for the manufacturing of enantiomerically pure chiral chemicals, such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, food additives, pigments, etc.… More

The near chiral purity of the biosphere leads to a vast array of chiro-specific physiological responses. This chiro-specificity, in turn, gives rise to the need for the manufacturing of enantiomerically pure chiral chemicals, such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, food additives, pigments, etc.… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will reduce mechanical external-cavity diode lasers to a centimeter-sized waveguide chip using a novel giant electro-optic effect. The device, a waveguide external-cavity semiconductor laser (WECSL), will be environmentally robust,… More

Diode-laser spectroscopy has been popular for trace gas metrology of light molecules due to its high specificity. However, the spectrometers are bulky and expensive, and the laser diodes are prone to optical feedback and mode instability. These systems have been largely relegated to the laboratory… More

We will develop a compact external cavity stabilization system, which will employ independent electro-optic control over the optical path length of the cavity and a wavelength-selective element. The system should be able to cover a 30 nm range and give mode-hop-free tuning over 20 nm intervals. The… More

We will develop a compact external cavity stabilization system, which will employ independent electro-optic control over the optical path length of the cavity and a wavelength-selective element. The system should be able to cover a 30 nm range and give mode-hop-free tuning over 20 nm intervals. The… More

Vescent Photonics proposes to construct a miniaturized, robust, Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) for rapid, in-situ marine chemical analysis. A t the heart of the proposed FTS sensor is our innovative, electro-optic technology, which provides a replacement for mechanical mirror translation. … More

75341-Trace quantities of certain atmospheric species can have profound effects on the complex chemical processes in the troposphere. However, the detection and quantification of these species will require the development of rapid response, ultra-sensitive (part-per-trillion) chemical detection… More

Vescent Photonics details a miniaturized and robust Fourier transform spectrometer(FTS) for in-situ chemical and spectral analysis. Phase I research will focus on innovative electro-optic technology that enables moving mirror replacement. A successful phase I effort will pave the way for a phase II… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Project proposes to develop a novel, monolithic external-cavity to tune near-UV laser diodes now commercially available between 375 and 440 nm. The external cavity will provide electro-optic control over both the lasing wavelength and the cavity… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will reduce mechanical external-cavity diode lasers to a centimeter-sized waveguide chip using a novel giant electro-optic effect. The device, a waveguide external-cavity semiconductor laser (WECSL), will be environmentally robust,… More

Vescent Photonics determined the feasibility of a miniaturized, robust, Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) for either in-situ or remote chemical and spectral analysis. During this phase I effort we investigated innovative, optical waveguide technology, capable of providing an unprecedented,… More

Vescent Photonics, in collaboration with David Walba at the University of Colorado, proposes to develop, synthesize and test liquid crystals that will be suitable for a novel electro-optic design. This design enables unprecedented electro-optic phase delay (>1mm), with very low loss and rapid… More

Vescent Photonics, in collaboration with David Walba at the University of Colorado, proposes to continue their successful phase I development of novel LC materials that are suited to a new electro-optic architecture. This architecture provides unprecedented electro-optic phase delay (> 1 mm has… More

We intend to develop a compact and robust diode laser system suitable for generating Bose-Einstein Condensation samples for spaced-based atom interferometers being developed for inertial navigation systems. Currently, the laser systems required are very complicated and can easily fill an optical… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project entails the construction of voltage tunable micro-ring, optical waveguide resonators. The devices will exploit novel waveguide electro-optic technology capable of a large index modulation (currently ?n >.02 with the potential for ?n… More

We propose to develop and build a novel chip-scale external cavity laser with frequency agility for use in matter-wave inertial navigation systems. These lasers exhibit narrow linewidth, frequency agility (10 GHz), environmental immunity, and can be precisely tuned during manufacture to rubidium D2… More

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a turnkey laser system for creating terahertz radiation by optical heterodyne mixing of two laser frequencies on a solid-state photomixer. In Phase I the lasers will tune relative to each other over a range of 0 to 1 THz with

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project entails the design and building of polarization independent, fiberdized, wavelength selective switches using patent pending EO-waveguide micro-ring technology developed and demonstrated as a result of work carried out under Phase I. The… More

We propose to develop a fully electro-optic beamsteerer for large aperture beams. The beamsteerer will be able to deflect 3-cm beam into a field of regard of 50 deg x 20 deg. In Phase I we will demonstrate and model key technologies needed for a Phase II deliverable. These include a highly… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will reduce mechanical external-cavity diode lasers to a centimeter-sized waveguide chip using a novel giant electro-optic effect. The device, a waveguide external-cavity semiconductor laser (WECSL), will be environmentally robust,… More

We propose to develop and build a novel chip-scale external cavity laser with frequency agility for use in matter-wave inertial navigation systems. These lasers exhibit narrow linewidth, frequency agility (10 GHz), environmental immunity, and can be precisely tuned during manufacture to rubidium D2… More

Vescent Photonics propose to develop a chip-sized narrow linewidth (< 50 kHz), widely tunable (> 10 nm's) diode laser that will be suitable for a wide variety of NASA remote sensing missions. The proposed laser platform enables easy selection of the laser center wavelength; these lasers can be… More

Vescent Photonics, in collaboration with Aerius Photonics, proposes to develop a new generation of ultra-compact, ultra low power micro-ladar systems that will be suitable for a wide variety of military needs including: guided sub-munitions, missle interceptor seeker systems, active collision… More

The purpose of this proposal is to produce high-power, narrow-linewidth (~1 MHz or less), robust, turn-key laser sources that will meet the requirements of emerging cold-atom engineering applications. The focus of this effort will be on developing "path-to-power" techniques for wavelength-flexible… More

Vescent Photonics propose to design and build revolutionary non-mechanical, electro-optic (EO) laser scanners that will be suitable for space based laser ranging, with a specific focus on the upcoming Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) mission. The success of past and current space based lidar… More

Vescent Photonics proposes to design and build significantly improved laser frequency locking and control systems that will be suitable for ASCENDS and other NASA sensing needs. Precision laser frequency control (absolute frequency to better than 1 MHz with rapid tuning over 10's to 100's of GHz)… More

Vescent Photonics proposes to develop a new generation of ultra-compact, ultra low power free space optical (FSO) systems that will be suitable for deployment on a wide variety of military platforms, as required for new multi-access optical networks. These new devices are enabled by the combined… More

Vescent Photonics proposes to develop, design and build new scanning based micro-ladar sensors with unprecedented cost and size, weight, and power (SWAP), thereby enabling ladar deployment on previously inaccessible platforms (SUAS, micro-munitions, etc.). This tremendous reduction in SWAP will be… More

Vescent Photonics proposes to develop, design and build new scanning based micro-ladar sensors with unprecedented cost and size, weight, and power (SWAP), thereby enabling ladar deployment on previously inaccessible platforms (SUAS, micro-munitions, etc.). This tremendous reduction in SWaP and… More

The purpose of this proposal is to produce high-power, narrow-linewidth (~1 MHz or less), robust, turnkey laser sources that will meet the requirements of emerging cold-atom sensors. The goal of this Phase II effort is to develop a frequency-agile diode laser system with an output power of 1000 mW.… More

The purpose of this phase II SBIR is to design and build new non-mechanical, electro-optic (EO) laser scanners that will be suitable for space based laser ranging, with a specific focus on the upcoming Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) mission. Even though the applications for EO laser scanning are… More

We propose to develop compact absolute wavelength references to weak molecular transitions, which is a challenge characteristic to space-based active sensing. The ASCENDS mission (Active Sensing of CO2 over Nights, Days, and Seasons) will be the first satellite-based mission employing precision… More

In this SBIR program we will design, build, and deliver a phased array radar time delay unit (TDU) with unprecedented performance. The enabling innovation is a new photonics-true-time-delay (PTTD) architecture that will provide: larger delay tuning (up to 20 nsec), low insertion loss (<2 dB),… More

ABSTRACT: We propose to combine distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser diodes with novel sideband locking schemes, MEMS atomic vapor cells, and offset phase locking to produce compact frequency-agile laser systems capable of autonomous operation on spaced-based platforms and remote environments. … More

Vescent Photonics proposes to develop new electro-optic (non-mechanical) laser scanners with extremely low cost and Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP), thereby enabling use on a variety of previously inaccessible platforms (e.g., soldier mounted, UAV/MAV, UGV, micromunitions, and more). The Vescent EO… More

We propose to develop compact absolute wavelength references to weak molecular transitions, which is a challenge characteristic to space-based active sensing. The ASCENDS mission (Active Sensing of CO2 over Nights, Days, and Seasons) will be the first satellite-based mission employing precision… More