Building a Better ALD - use of Plasma Enhanced ALD to Construct Efficient Interference Filters for the FUV

Over the past few years the advent of atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology has opened new capabilities to the field of coatings deposition for use in optical elements. At the same time, there have been major advances in both optical designs and detector technologies that can provide orders of magnitude improvement in throughput in the far ultraviolet (FUV) and near ultraviolet (NUV) passbands. Recent review work has shown that a veritable revolution is about to happen in astronomical diagnostic work for targets ranging from protostellar and protoplanetary systems, to the intergalactic medium that feeds gas supplies for galactic star formation, to the most distant of objects in the early universe. These diagnostics are rooted in access to a forest of emission and absorption lines in the ultraviolet (UV)], and all that prevents this advance is the lack of throughput in such systems, even in space-based conditions. 

 We propose to use a range of materials to implement stable optical layers suitable for protective overcoats with high UV reflectivity and unprecedented uniformity, and use that capability to leverage innovative ultraviolet/optical filter construction to enable the type of science described above. The materials we will use include aluminum oxide and hafnium oxide (as an intermediary step for development only) and progressing to a range of fluoride-based compounds (for production). These materials will be deposited in a multilayer format over a metal base to produce a stable construct. Specifically, we will employ the use of PEALD (plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition) methods for the deposition and construction of reflective layers that can be used to construct unprecedented filter designs for use in the ultraviolet. Our designs indicate that by using PEALD, we can further reduce adsorption and scattering in the optical films as a result of the lower concentration of impurities and increased control over the stoichiometry to produce vastly superior quality and performance over comparable traditional thermal ALD techniques currently being developed by other NASA-funded groups.

The Strategic Astrophysics Technology program (SAT) supports focused development efforts for key technologies to the point at which they are ready to feed into major missions in the three science themes of the Astrophysics Division: Exoplanet Exploration, Cosmic Origins, and the Physics of the Cosmos. This program is specifically designed to address middle technology readiness level (TRL) "gaps" between levels 3 and 6: the maturation of technologies that have been established as feasible, but which are not yet sufficiently mature to incorporate into flight missions without introducing an unacceptable level of risk.

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.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.