LOVERAGING ON AGILTRON'S EXPERIENCE IN OPTICAL FIBER COMPONENTS, AGILTRON PROPOSED A COHERENT SINGLE-MODE F…

Public award description

LOVERAGING ON AGILTRON'S EXPERIENCE IN OPTICAL FIBER COMPONENTS, AGILTRON PROPOSED A COHERENT SINGLE-MODE FIBER (SMF) SPATIAL FILTER ARRAY (SFA) WITH A GRADIENT INDEX FIBER (GIF) LENS ARRAY PAIR TO MEET NASA'S APPLICATION OF PLANET EXPLORATION. THERE ARE SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OVER THE CURRENT APPROACH IN: SMALL ABERRATION, LOW INSERTION LOSS, HIGH UNIFORMITY, LOW COST, EASY ASSEMBLY AND HIGH STABILITY. IN PHASE I, AGILTRON WILL BUILD A GIF-BASED SFA PROTOTYPE TO PROVE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED LOW COST PROGRAM FOR NASA APPLICATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, A THEORETICAL STUDY WILL BE MADE TO BUILD A SIMULATION MODEL FOR THE PROPOSED SFA. THIS SIMULATION AND ACTUAL PHYSICAL TESTING WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY BASELINE FOR US TO BUILD AND DEMONSTRATE A PROTOTYPE INCLUDING THE MECHANICAL ENCLOSURES IN PHASE II. WE EXPECT TO PROVIDE FULLY FUNCTIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY TESTED PRODUCTION UNITS FOR NASA IN PHASE II.