Integrated Spatial Filter Array

To address the NASA Earth Science Division need for spatial filter arrays for amplitude and wavefront control, Luminit proposes to develop a novel Integrated Spatial Filter Array (iSFA) comprising integrated waveguides mapped with a pair of commercial lenslet arrays. Thousands of precisely spaced waveguides can be mass-produced with state-of-the-art photonic fabrication technology, which eliminates the tedious and error-prone alignment of up to a 1000 individual optical fibers in legacy fiber bundle SFA. The integrated waveguides are inherently polarization preserving. In Phase I, we designed and fabricated a 16-waveguide iSFA and demonstrated 22 dB polarization extinction ratio and superior coupling efficiency and uniformity over legacy fiber bundle SFA. In Phase II, we will tailor waveguide array parameters for optimum coupling with commercial lenslet arrays and fabricate a fully functioning prototype iSFA with 1,000 buried single-mode waveguide channels operating in a broad wavelength range in the 400-1,000 nm visible band. The iSFA will benefit NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder mission for detection of earth-like planets, climates, habitability and life beyond our solar system.

The iSFA technology will find applications in a variety of industries that need to precisely control the phase and amplitude properties of generalized optical wavefront. Such markets include: free-space laser communications, adaptive optics systems, remote sensing, optical metrology, medical imaging, photogrammetry, environmental monitoring, LADAR imager sensors, and microscopy applications.

The proposed iSFA will precisely control the phase and amplitude of optical wavefront and enhance the performance of nulling coronagraph, which will benefit NASA Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and Stellar Imaging (SI) missions for detection of earth-like planets, climates, habitability and life beyond our solar system.

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.