Short Pass Deep UV Omnidirectional Optical Filter With Ultra Wide Blocking Range

"This SBIR Phase I proposal addresses a need for improved UV and deep UV filters for aerospace and defense applications. A new approach to the design and fabrication short pass filters, based on a new photonic material, will allow filters to be made withtransmission at wavelengths as short as 130nm or less. Both these properties are unachievable by any other means. In Phase I, it is proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of the method by fabricating small area filters, measuring the transmission andother optical properties and comparing them with the design model. In Phase II, large area filters will be fabricated and the spatial uniformity of their optical properties and their physical properties will be evaluated, as well as the potential forscaling up to production. Phase III will involve product design, fabricating filter structures to meet customers' physical as well as optical needs, and marketing and sales investments. The filters will be used in solar-blind imaging systems or staringarrays for applications such as missile tracking, commercial applications such as automated arc-welding control and analysis, and ozone depletion monitoring, as well as in deep-UV lithography, spectroscopy, and astronomy. The proposed technique for makingfilters for the deep ultra violet will serve needs in missile tracking and monitoring, space-based missile defense, monitoring of corona and arcing activity of power lines, curing of advanced