FMSG: CYBER: 3D PRINTING OF HOLOGRAPHIC OPTICAL PROCESSORS -OPTICAL PROCESSORS ARE COMPUTING DEVICES THAT U…

Assistance award details

Assistance award identifier

ASST_NON_2328362_049

FAIN

2328362

Recipient

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Awarding agency

National Science Foundation

Funding agency

National Science Foundation

Assistance listing (CFDA)

47.041

Total obligated

$497,765

Period

Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2025

Fiscal year

2023

Place of performance state

IN

Source file

FY2023_All_Assistance_Full_20261006.zip

Description

FMSG: CYBER: 3D PRINTING OF HOLOGRAPHIC OPTICAL PROCESSORS -OPTICAL PROCESSORS ARE COMPUTING DEVICES THAT USE LIGHT, RATHER THAN ELECTRICITY, FOR SENSING AND PROCESSING IMAGES. LAYERS OF GRATINGS MIMIC THE STRUCTURE OF NEURAL NETWORKS, GUIDE THE PATHS OF LIGHT THROUGH THESE LAYERS VIA DIFFRACTION, AND ACHIEVE LOW-LATENCY AND LOW-POWER COMPUTATION. THIS TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES A PROMISING ALTERNATIVE TO THE EXISTING COMPUTER VISION METHODS, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO DELAYS CAUSED BY MASSIVE COMPUTATIONS (BILLIONS OF PARAMETERS) AT HIGH FRAME RATES. THIS FUTURE MANUFACTURING SEED GRANT (FMSG) PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF HOLOGRAPHIC OPTICAL PROCESSORS AND ENABLE COMPUTER VISION WITH MINIMAL OR NO COMPUTATIONAL TIME. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROJECT WILL GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIGH-RESOLUTION MANUFACTURING, AND LEAD TO MORE AFFORDABLE NEXT-GENERATION COMPUTING DEVICES. THE INCREASED COMPUTATION CAPABILITY WILL POTENTIALLY TRANSFORM MULTIPLE FIELDS, FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO QUANTUM COMPUTING, CYBERSECURITY TO NEXT-GENERATION COMMUNICATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL STIMULATE THE INTEREST IN STEM EDUCATION AT THE INTERFACE OF FUTURE MANUFACTURING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND CONTRIBUTE TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN BOTH AREAS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ESTABLISH A HOLOGRAPHICALLY-ASSISTED VAT PHOTOPOLYMERIZATION (H-VPP) PROCESS, BY COMBINING HIGH-THROUGHPUT MICROSCALE VPP WITH THE NANOSCALE HOLOGRAPHIC RECORDING PROCESS. H-VPP FABRICATES BILLIONS OF VOLUMETRIC DIFFRACTIVE GRATINGS, IN PLACE OF INTERFERENCE-PATTERNED REFRACTIVE INDICES, ALLOWING FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION OPTICAL STRUCTURES WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF LAYERS TO FORM COMPLEX OPTICAL PATHWAYS. SEVERAL FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED INCLUDE: (1) ELUCIDATING HOW TRANSPARENT PHOTOCURABLE RESINS CAN BE USED FOR PRINTING HOLOGRAPHIC DEVICES, (2) INVESTIGATING HOW NANOSCALE REFRACTIVE INDEX MODULATION CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ADDING EXTRA LASER BEAMS TO INTERFERE WITH THE PROJECTED MASK-IMAGES, AND (