High Performance Spatial Filter Array Based on Single Mode Fiber Bundle

In Phase I project, by leveraging on Agiltron's experience in optical fiber components and our unique fabrication procedure of fiber array, we successfully designed and fabricated the samples of the gradient index fiber (GIF) lens arrays and single mode (SM) fiber arrays for composing a coherent single-mode fiber (SMF) spatial filter array (SFA), which demonstrated the promising results to meet NASA's requirements for the applications in planet exploration. This novel GIF and SMF array based SFA has several advantages over the current approach in small aberration, low insertion loss, high uniformity, high robust and stability. In Phase II, Agiltron will further improve and optimize the fabrication procedure to make the prototype of GIF and SMF array based SFA for NASA applications. This SFA prototype will have more than 1000 effective fiber counts in the requested aperture. Furthermore, the improvements of precision fabrication procedure developed in Phase I will assure that center-to-center deviation in GIF and SMF arrays' deviation is less than +/-0.2�m. At the end of the Phase II, the novel SFA prototype will be provided with fully function integration and environmental test to insert into the experiment system of NASA for further comprehensive evaluation.

A planet finding visible nulling interferometer coronagraph architecture was applied to detect extra-solar planets near its star in the visible or near infrared spectrum. In order to reducing wavefront mismatches between the beam's combination in the interferometer and preserving the spatial information of the incident beam, a spatial filter array (SFA) will be crucial for such a interferometer. The SFA, which has to be uniform of intensity and phase to meet the request of telescope imaging for the planet, can reduce the starlight to request level to observe the image of the planet. The high performance and fill factor as well as light weight GI lens array can be used in the beam steering systems for NASA's laser space measurements and communication.

The GI lens array has great advantages over present micro-lens arrays in high accuracy and uniformity, high resolution and low cost for commercial applications as FPA imager, remote sensing, wide angle, fast beam steering applications, scientific and engineering instruments. For example, a GI lens array used with a CCD array can constitute the core of a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. If the wavefront is distorted, the light imaged on the CCD sensor consists of displaced spots and missing spots. This information can be used to calculate the shape of the wavefront that was incident on the microlens array. Another application is in 3D imaging and displays. The use of a GI lens array can define the viewing directions for a pair of interlaced images and hence enable the observer to see a 3D stereoscopic image. And the GI lens array can be used to DWDM module, WSS in fiber optical communications.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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