HIGH RESOLUTION UV FILTER DEVELOPMENT

A PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY OF A DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY FOR PRODUCING OPTICAL INTERFERENCE FILTERS THAT CAN TRANSMIT ULTRAVIOLET IMAGES (SUCH AS MISSILE PLUMES) WHILE MAINTAINING HIGH IMAGE RESOLUTION AND REJECTING VISIBLE AND LONGER WAVELENGTH RADIATIONS. COMPARED TO FILTERS PRESENTLY USED, ULTRAVIOLET IMAGE QUALITY IS EXPECTED TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED. COMPUTER-ASSISTED DESIGNS OF FILTER COATINGS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO SATISFY DESIRED SPECTRAL PERFORMANCE AND REJECTION. EXPERIMENTAL FILTERS WILL BE FABRICATED TO THESE DESIGNS, EVALUATED FOR SPECTRAL PERFORMANCE, AND TESTED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY AND DURABILITY. SELECTED FILTERS WILL BE EVALUATED FOR UV IMAGE TRANSMISSION QUALITY. SPECIFICATION OBJECTIVES FOR RESOLUTION, SPECTRAL PERFORMANCE, AND OUT-OF-BAND REJECTION ARE EXPECTED TO BE ACHIEVED. TO CONFIRM FEASIBILITY, PROTOTYPE FILTERS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DESIRED FINAL CHARACTERISTICS WILL BE FABRICATED, TESTED, AND DELIVERED WITH ACCOMPANYING DATA.