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Completed TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 4)
The objective is to develop a technique for fabrication of microlens arrays for coupling radiation to mid-infrared kinetic inductance detectors. Microlens arrays will be fabricated by etching silicon wafers using multiple techniques.
Future astronomical telescopes, such as the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA), the Origins Space Telescope (Origins), and the Balloon Experiment for Galactic INfrared Science (BEGINS) require arrays of thousands of mid-infrared detectors with efficient optical coupling to radiation. With efficient optical coupling to sensitive detector arrays, these infrared observatories will enable new observations to assess star formation rates in galaxies over most of the history of the Universe, the growth of supermassive black holes in galaxies, and the composition and physical conditions of interstellar dust.
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