Alternating Nanostructured Multilayer Optical Limiter

To address the Air Force need for an optical limiter without a focusing lens to provide sufficient attenuation to prevent eye damage at incident radiation levels that would otherwise cause retinal injury, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new nonfocal plane Alternating Nanostructured Multilayer Optical Limiter (ANMOL), based on nonlinear periodic optical structures consisting of alternating layers of interval films with the same linear indices of refraction and opposite Kerr nonlinearities that enhance optical reflection to meet the high optical density requirement for non-facial plane laser eye protection. The innovative design of the multilayer film structures and use of nanostructured materials for fabrication will enable the ANMOL to perform frequency-agile laser eye protection at an optical density >4 through the near-infrared and visible spectrum (400-1400 nm) without the use of a focal plane. The ground state luminous transmittance in the visible spectrum will achieve 50%. The response time of the ANMOL will be below 2 ns. In Phase I POC will demonstrate the feasibility of ANMOL by computer modeling and testing a proof-of-principle prototype. In Phase II POC plans to develop an engineering prototype for laser eye protection through testing in a laboratory environment.