Electronically Tunable Fabry-Perot Filter

To address the Missile Defense Agency need for an infrared tunable spectral filter for Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) mid-course discrimination by detecting infrared signatures and measuring the temperature of remote objects within a threat cloud, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Electronically Tunable Fabry-Perot (ET-FAP) filter for an infrared multispectral imager based on phase-matched Fabry-Perot plates and a liquid crystal filter cavity tuning element. The proposed ET-FAP filter is based on a proprietary low-cost process of fabricating phase-matched Fabry-Perot mirrors that allows the device to be monolithic and the filter substrate large and thin. The ET-FAP tuning speed will be in the kilohertz range, with more than 50% filter transmission of both polarization components in the LWIR (7-14 micron) region. In Phase I POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the infrared multispectral imager with the ET-FAP filter through initial design studies, computer modeling, and experimental fabrication of a demonstration filter module. We will also demonstrate the proposed ET-FAP filter performance improvements over state-of-the-art filter technologies. In Phase II POC will develop a fully operational ET-FAP filter system and demonstrate its flightreadiness.