Metalens Near InfraRed Telescope

NASA needs system technology solutions that enable or enhance telescopes for missions of any size (from balloon or CubeSat to Probe or Flagship) operating at any wavelength from UV/optical to mid/far-infrared. Relative Dynamics Inc. proposes the Metalens Near InfraRed Telescope (MeNIRT) solution. RDI will design and analyze the overall telescope system. The telescope system is the optics (lens and metalens) and a carbon fiber/metal hybrid opto-mechanical structure. Metalenses are flat lenses that use metasurfaces to focus light. The metasurfaces are a series of artificial antennae that manipulate the optical response of the incident light, including its amplitude phase and polarization. Metasurfaces have provided a new approach to recasting optical components into flat devices without performance deterioration. Carbon fiber composites have high stiffness, high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. RDI will investigate two methods for engineering the CTE 1) adjusting the chemical composition of the carbon fiber and the resin 2) adjusting the direction of the carbon fiber laying. MeNIRT provides a lightweight telescope that greatly eases mass limitations with a path to optical to mid-IR diffraction-limited performance over the wide temperature range. Using flat optics and athermalized continuous carbon fiber telescope structure greatly reduces coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) limitations and gravity sag. Using flat on-axis optics, MeNIRT does not have a telescope central obscuration. The Metalens is manufactured for mass production using standard silicon lithography. The new commercial design tools for silicon flat optics in combination with the continuous carbon fiber structure provide a straight-forward method for design, manufacture, and test. MeNIRT provides a path to flat optics and athermal telescopes for science missions with wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared.

Metalenses are potentially revolutionary in optical imaging due to their flat nature and compact size, multispectral acquisition and even off-axis focusing. Metalenses can be used in many NASA science missions (e.g., cameras, spectroscopy from UV to microwave, lidars) and spacecraft technologies using optics (e.g., star trackers, optical communication and navigation). Near-term NASA applications are IR, MIR and NIR optical systems for large spacecraft and UV to microwave systems for CubeSat and small satellite optical systems.

$10 billion+ market with applications in machine vision, robotics, and industrial systems. Government and commercial imaging satellite optics. Future high volume applications include cellphone camera modules, wearable displays for augmented and virtual reality, machine vision, automotive and security cameras. Start-up companies: Tunoptix: https://www.tunoptix.com/; Metalenz: https://metalenz.com/

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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