A SOLID-STATE ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT SOURCE

PRESENTLY AVAILABLE SOURCES OF COHERENT RADIATION IN THE ULTRAVIOLET (UV) ARE INEFFICIENT, BULKY, AND UNRELIABLE. A SEMICONDUCTOR-DIODE-BASED SOURCE PROMISES TO OPEN UP NEW CAPABILITY IN PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY, FLUORESCENCE-BASED ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS, AND RESEARCH. THIS PROJECT IS DEVELOPING A CONCEPT FOR AN INEXPENSIVE DIODE-LASER-BASED SOLID-STATE LIGHT SOURCE THAT COULD SUPPLY TUNABLE RADIATIONAT MODERATE AVERAGE POWER LEVELS IN THE UV. THIS APPROACH COMBINES A HARMONIC GENERATION STEP WITH ANOTHER CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED IN HOUSE, AND THE COMBINATION WILL BE DEMONSTRATED EXPERIMENTALLY DURING PHASE I. THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS WILL BE COMBINED WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS ON THE SYSTEM TO CALCULATE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE DEVICE. DURING PHASE II, PLANS ARE TO CONSTRUCT THE PROTOTYPE, OPTIMIZE ITS PERFORMANCE, AND SEARCH FOR AN INDUSTRIAL PARTNER WITH WHOM THE TECHNOLOGY CAN BE COMMERCIALIZED IN PHASE III.