Nanoparticles-Doped Isotropic Liquid Crystal Optical Switch

To address the U.S. Air Force need for a novel high-speed, multiple-notch broadband passive optical switch to selectively discriminate bands of electromagnetic radiation in intelligence, surveillance, or reconnaissance systems, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a novel Nanoparticles-doped Isotropic Liquid Crystal Optical Switch (NILCOS) based on a new material possessing giant optical Kerr effect, fast response (~1ns), and high linear transmission (> 98%, 650-3000 nm). The NILCOS device with great uniformity and scalability provides new multiple-notch broadband optical switching with flexible bandgaps to notch-cut undesired wavelengths from 400–1400 nm. The NILCOS will enable new capabilities of situational awareness, recognition, and identification systems for day/night applications under all-weather conditions. In Phase I, POC will identify and evaluate this new material that has uniformity, scalability, linear transmission, and strong nonlinear properties, and design a breadboard prototype and test it to prove the feasibility of the NILCOS technology. The processing scheme, applicability, and fabrication issues of NILCOS will be demonstrated prior to Phase II. In Phase II, POC will develop a fully packaged NILCOS module to demonstrate multiple-notch broadband switching with high extinction ratio, fast speed, and low insertion loss. BENEFIT: The proposed NILCOS development will benefit the nation in both the government and commercial sectors. The NILCOS module will have numerous military applications, including incorporation by the Air Force into sensors and electronics for situational awareness, recognition, and identification. The NILCOS device will also have significant commercial applications in telecommunications, optical networks, high temperature manufacturing processes, agricultural raw material cleaning and sorting, biological imaging, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.