INTEGRATED SPATIAL FILTER ARRAY TO ADDRESS THE NASA EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION NEED FOR SPATIAL FILTER ARRAYS F…

Public award description

INTEGRATED SPATIAL FILTER ARRAY TO ADDRESS THE NASA EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION NEED FOR SPATIAL FILTER ARRAYS FOR AMPLITUDE AND WAVEFRONT CONTROL, LUMINIT PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL POLARIZATION-PRESERVING INTEGRATED SPATIAL FILTER ARRAY (ISFA) COMPRISING 36 X 36 WAVEGUIDES AND TWO MICROLENS ARRAYS IN A HEXAGONAL CONFIGURATION. EACH WAVEGUIDE ACTS AS A POLARIZATION MAINTAINING SINGLE-MODE FIBER AND IS PRECISELY MAPPED TO A PAIR OF INPUT/OUTPUT LENSLETS. THE 36 X 36 WAVEGUIDES HAVE IDENTICAL FAST AND SLOW POLARIZATION AXES AND CAN BE MASS-FABRICATED TO REDUCE COST AND ENHANCE PLACEMENT ACCURACY, UNIFORMITY, THROUGHPUT AND RELIABILITY. THE ISFA WILL BE HERMETICALLY PACKAGED IN A 1 CUBIC INCH BOX TO WITHSTAND HIGH RADIATION AND TEMPERATURE EXTREMES IN SPACE. IN PHASE I, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF ISFA, WHICH WILL REDUCE THE DEVELOPMENT RISK OF A PHASE II 36 X 36 PROTOTYPE ISFA. THE DEMONSTRATED RESULTS WILL OFFER NASA ENHANCED NULLING CORONAGRAPH IMAGING FOR DETECTION OF PLANETS BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM WITH THE TERRESTRIAL PLANET FINDER.