SBIR Phase I: Thermal Drawing of Hybrid Multi-Material Dielectric Filters

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide high-performance light filtering at a level that potentially affects all people in the world. Inexpensive high-performance light filters allow for early detection of cancer and infection by bringing the highest-precision technologies such as fluorescence microscopy and sensing to portable, consumer diagnostic devices. They also make sensors in self-driving cars and other intelligent devices of the future to detect objects in the surroundings more accurately by eliminating the undesired light noise from the ambient and focusing on the target frequencies of light only. Batteries of future mobile devices may also last up to 20% longer due to more efficient light energy management in display units that become possible with low-cost, large-scale optical filters.?Finally,?the anticipated lower manufacturing cost at high volume will allow for more high-tech manufacturing jobs to remain in the US. The proposed project will establish the technical feasibility of using a novel multi-material, micro- and nano-layered film production process in order to produce visible and near-infrared thin-film optical filters. The time and cost requirements of conventional, deposition-based production techniques of such filters are a significant barrier to market growth and commercial acceptance of their broad range of uses. In order to address this market gap, this project will investigate the elements necessary for consistent production of filters made of hybrid organic/inorganic materials using the novel process of thermal drawing. This investigation will cover methods of integration and handling of hybrid organic-inorganic materials in the thermal drawing process as well as understanding and controlling fluidic instabilities at interfaces to obtain filter uniformity and integrity. The results of the proposed research will determine whether the novel thermal drawing process, in conjunction with developed materials and handling techniques, can reliably generate high-performance visible and near infrared filters at scale. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.