Robust Frequency Combs and Lasers for Optical Clocks and Sensing

Vescent Photonics proposes to bring an environmentally robust, compact, high fidelity frequency comb to the commercial market. This will be comb based on a NIST design, augmented with a high bandwidth graphene modulator. Vescent will partner with MRADS, a CU spin-off commercializing high bandwidth graphene modulators for mode-locked lasers. These modulators will both improve performance of the NIST comb and also give Vescent the freedom to operate in the commercial market. These devices will be incorporated into the packages developed during this Phase I and will be a central component of the final deliverable: a pair of high fidelity frequency combs.

Frequency combs could be infused to future NASA CAL missions. In addition, combs from this Phase II could support JPL�s Massively Parallel, Cavity-Enhanced, Laser Spectroscopy for Planetary and Lunar Exploration (MCELS) program. Finally, frequency combs could be modified to provide calibration for ground telescopes searching for exo-planets (Astro-combs).

A robust, commercially available frequency comb will have significant collateral benefit to civilian and defense applications. Frequency combs have found their way into the search for exoplanets, introduced powerful techniques for parallel spectroscopy of explosives and biochemical weapons, and provided coherent LIDAR as an alternative to laser ranging.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — 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.

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.