Photonic Fabrics for Optical Tagging

The US continues to need improvements in capability to deal with the imminent threat of theft of nuclear weapons from a foreign storage facility by a terrorist cell with insider assistance. At the heart of this challenge is the need to develop alternative signature exploitation technologies, taggants, that can be easily observed using sensors capable of detection over large areas and at high resolutions. One approach to addressing this vulnerability is to locate, monitor and track WMD from strategic distances using airborne sensors operating at HSI, IR, radar, lidar, FTIR, among others. Describe how this problem or situation is being addressed. The overall objective or approach of the combined Phase I and Phase II projects should be clearly stated (typically one to two sentences). The proposed Phase I and Phase II effort is to develop a taggant that can be covertly integrated onto assets that require tracking. The proposed tracking system will allow identification of the tag from distances of up to 10 km, and can be identified using either an active or passive querying system. The Phase I work will focus on four tasks: 1) Fabricating externally reflecting photonic bandgap fibers targeting reflection bands in atmospheric transmission window of 8-12 microns, 2) weaving them into fabrics, 3) optical measurements of the fabric’s reflection properties, and 4) evaluation of the impact of various environmental factors on the robustness of the reflection properties of this fabric. Initially, this technology will benefit the public by aiding in the nuclear nonproliferation detection efforts of DOE. The tracking of nuclear material to prevent excessive nuclear proliferation is of tantamount importance of the U.S. public, as well as the global community. Secondly, it will assist the military by developing a means of generating, applying, and reading optical codes; which can be used to track friendly or other objects from kilometer distances.