Low Cost and Small Size Weight Power 8-12 Micron LWIR Metalens

Proposal Title: Low Cost Reduced Size and Weight 8-12 Micron LWIR Metalenses (MLs) (SMI Ref. No.: 42161)   Focus Area: Persistent Space-based Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR)   Technical Abstract: The Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) spectral region (~8 to 12 um) is very important for many military applications such as night vision googles, imaging systems, target acquisition and designation sighting systems (TADS), and forward looking IR (FLIR) cameras in UAVs and for commercial applications such as night vision for automobiles, smart electronics, LIDAR, and gas detection. Conventional optical device materials (lenses) are mostly opaque to wavelengths (> 3 ?m). IR optics are expensive and have low performance compared to visible or near-infrared optical components. In recent years, it was found that optical metasurfaces ie., artificially thin film engineered structures with thickness at wavelength-scale with on-demand electromagnetic driven responses, offer promising cost-effective, high-performance ultra-compact infrared optics. Traditionally, lenses (visible or IR) are curved, heavy and bulky (cm scale), with limited performance, while the metalenses (MLs) are flat (µm scale), reducing much of the distortion, physical size, and weight. Further, MLs can generally be produced using ultra -low cost “Si” world integrated circuit device production lithography. In this SBIR project we will use our MOCVD process to produce the MLs materials and use standard low-cost semiconductor mass production lithography techniques to produce the physical MLs. In Phase I, SMI by working with its project partner CUNY, will design/model production viable LWIR MLs, identify the applications with the Air Force (AF), AF providers; and in Phase II, we will grow and process suitable materials to demonstrate functional LWIR MLs. We will also determine a production optimization plan for Phase III commercialization.