High Strength, Transparent, Edge Bonded IR Spinel Windows

This Phase II SBIR Navy Program proposes the continued development and feasibility demonstration of producing high strength, bonded, transparent magnesium aluminate spinel windows for next generation aircraft for Navy Unmanned Combat Air System (N-UCAS), ACAT I, Navy ship such as the DDG-1000 which require windows as large as 76 cm x 76 cm x 2 cm, other defense large IR window applications, and other large size armor applications at an affordable cost. The spinel bonding technology being developed for this project consists optically contacting the window panes components followed by diffusion bonding under low pressure and low temperature. For this purpose Adhesive-Free Bonding (AFB®), a process developed by Onyx Optics, Inc., is used to form spinel edge-to-edge defect-free permanent bonds without the use of adhesives.