Rapidly Tunable Optical Filter

Electronically tunable optical ¿lters can provide valuable information in many applications, including medical sciences, remote sensing, and environmental monitoring. Current optical-¿lter technology, such as liquid crystal, is limited in switching speed to tens of milliseconds. However, for some applications, such as high speed video, faster response time is necessary. This project will design and develop a rapidly-tunable, wide-¿eld, birefringent, imaging optical ¿lter with a large aperture. An electro-optic tun¬ing element will allow for fast (~1 msec) switching times. The ¿exible design will permit bandwidths from ~100 nm to less than 1 nm. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: High speed tunable imaging ¿lters with a large spatial format can be utilized for multispectral imaging in remote sensing. Other commercial applications include medical imaging, food safety and quality inspection, and pharmaceutical development and processing.