SBIR Phase II: Ultraviolet-Polarizing Chiral Film

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目旨在开发和商业化具有前所未有性能的高耐用UV偏振光学器件。突破偏振片是由定向双折射薄膜层堆叠而成的，这些薄膜层是通过斜角度真空沉积得到的。薄膜材料本身是光学各向同性的，但双折射是由薄膜堆叠层的纳米结构引起的。薄膜可以由单一材料构成，从而减轻了传统材料透明度的限制，并实现了更宽的工作波长范围。例如，使用LiF作为薄膜材料可以将工作范围扩展到110纳米。使用碳化硅或碳化硼等材料，可以扩展到远紫外线和极紫外线。因此，沉积技术为设计独特的薄膜性能提供了一个令人兴奋的机会。在第二阶段，研究者建议扩大UV手性膜偏振器的薄膜材料数据库，并设计，制造（使用定制的沉积系统），并表征UV手性膜偏振器的实际应用。研究人员随后将开发高速沉积技术，以确保偏振光片的成本低廉。商业化活动将在第三阶段加速。无机紫外偏光片可能比传统的偏光片组件有许多优点，并成为许多重要的工业制造过程中的关键器件，包括化学合成系统，药物开发和液晶显示器的液晶校准。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is designed to develop and commercialize high-durability UV polarizer optics with unprecedented performance. The breakthrough polarizers are made from stacks of oriented, birefringent thin film layers, which are obtained by vacuum deposition at an oblique angle. The film material itself is optically isotropic, but the birefringence arises from the nanostructure of the layers in the film stack. Films can be constructed from a single material, relieving the conventional constraints on material transparency and enabling a wider operating wavelength range. Using LiF as the film material, for example, could extend the operating range down to 110 nm. Extension to the far UV and extreme UV appears possible with materials such as silicon carbide or boron carbide. The deposition technique thus offers an exciting opportunity to engineer unique film properties. In Phase II, the investigator proposes to enlarge the database of film materials for UV chiral film polarizers and design, fabricate (using a customized deposition system), and characterize UV chiral film polarizers for practical applications. The investigator will then develop high-speed deposition techniques to ensure the polarizers are low-cost. Commercialization activities will accelerate in Phase III. The inorganic UV polarizer films may have several advantages over conventional polarizer components, and become key devices in many important industrial manufacturing processes, including systems for chemical synthesis, drug development, and liquid crystal alignment for LCDs.