GOALI: Short-wave infrared polarization sensitive focal plane array

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Compared with visible light, short wave infrared (SWIR) light can penetrate deeper into obscuring layers, such as haze, fog, smoke and tissue. Water vapor, fog, and materials such as silicon are transparent in SWIR, and SWIR is invisible to the human eye. Objects that appear similar or even identical in the visible spectrum can be easily identified in SWIR. This research seeks to demonstrate a novel SWIR polarization sensitive imaging sensor that has applications in medical imaging, remote sensing, surveillance, 3D imaging and industrial metrology. The project supports the research and training of undergraduate and graduate students in the multidisciplinary areas of optical sciences, electrical engineering, chemistry, and materials science.Technical abstractThis GOALI project supports the research and development of a novel class of polarization-sensitive focal plane arrays (FPAs) that operate in the SWIR. The proposed research leverages the interdisciplinary expertise of thin-film fabrication and imaging polarimetry at the University of Arizona (UA) and semiconductor packaging and industrial metrology at 4D Technology, an Onto Innovation Business located in Tucson, Arizona. The goals of this project are (1) the advancement of fundamental design, know-how and fabrication process of multilayer SWIR optical filters, (2) the construction of a new polarization sensitive focal plane arrays in the SWIR, and (3) the demonstration of a through-wafer imaging system for automated semiconductor defect inspection and metrology applications. The intellectual significance of this work lies in advancing the development of an innovative and important sensor that currently does not exist in addition to creating a novel design and fabrication process for SWIR optical filter and coating to extend the state-of-the-art. This type of sensor will enable novel and complex instruments with applications that are difficult and impossible to perform using visible light. Specifically, the team will develop a new material and processing approach to realize arbitrary nonlinear polarization (circular and elliptical) filters in the 1 to 2 micron wavelength range. Uniquely, the proposed division-of-focal plane polarimeter will be single shot, insensitive to vibration, and compact. In the long-term, the broader impacts include: (1) leveraging the GOALI results to advance applications in real products; and (ii) strengthening the knowledge base used to create new course material for undergraduate and graduate teaching within the UA College of Optical Sciences, and externally through an existing distance-learning program. Graduate and undergraduate students will carry out a significant portion of this work to gain invaluable technical and teamwork skills merging industry and academic perspectives through device fabrication and instrument testing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.