Advanced Filter Solutions for Multiband and Broadband Imaging

The proposed is a two-year effort to develop multiband and broadband imaging detectors by advancing optical detector coatings technologies. Astrophysical applications from cosmology to nucleosynthesis would benefit from high-throughput, wide-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy on a single detector. For broadband and multiband observations, multiple detectors or optical filters are typically used, each optimized for a specific band of interest. The proposed development will dramatically reduce the complexity required for UV-Visible instruments while also improving throughput. Our proposal offers an innovative solution to the limitations and compromises inherent in traditional optical coating technologies by combining well-established lithographic patterning techniques with atomic layer deposition (ALD). We have previously reported on the use of ALD in the development of antireflection coatings for various bands of interest spanning UV to visible wavelengths. In all cases, as is typical for most device manufacturers, a single coating was applied to the entire device, resulting in uniform response across the detector. Under the proposed effort, we will demonstrate new methods for selective-area ALD to develop sensor systems and optical components with spatially varying coatings, resulting in spatially varying response optimized for a given system. Using our approach a detector could be patterned with antireflection coatings of the same material at different thicknesses or even with different materials, thus offering more flexibility in terms of system-level optimization of optical performance and spectral sensitivity. The proposed effort is synergistic with ongoing instrument, detector, and coating development at JPL and can be evaluated at system level using existing instrumentation, such as JPL's Advanced UV Imaging Spectrometer (AUVIS).

The Astrophysics Research and Analysis program (APRA) supports suborbital and suborbital-class investigations, development of detectors and supporting technology, laboratory astrophysics, and limited ground based observing. Basic research proposals in these areas are solicited for investigations that are relevant to NASA's programs in astronomy and astrophysics, including the entire range of photons, gravitational waves, and particle astrophysics. The emphasis of this solicitation is on technologies and investigations that advance NASA astrophysics missions and goals.

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