SBIR Phase I: All-Semiconductor Nanostructured Lenses for High-Tech Industries

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在开发基于超表面技术的轻便、紧凑和全半导体制造的光学设备。传统光学器件的制造过程涉及到在集成、组装和测试方面面临挑战的技术，以及较长的周转时间和高成本。这种镜片技术称为金属镜片，优于通常由玻璃或塑料制成的传统镜片。金属透镜是由纳米结构阵列制成的，这些纳米结构与纳米级的光相互作用，允许精确控制光的性质。该项目将大大降低制造过程的复杂性，在传统制造设施中，金属透镜将与半导体激光二极管集成在一起，而不需要任何额外或特殊的设备。这种新型金属透镜将由具有高反射率的特殊多层薄膜设计和制造。这种金属透镜将在一系列行业中有广泛的应用，包括但不限于成像、传感、电信、航空航天和国防。该项目的实现将放大光电子行业内部的全球竞争，增加美国的竞争力。这项小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段计划旨在解决传统方法控制激光的局限性。这一创新为设计和制造空间分散工程金属透镜提供了一种新的方法，通过具有成本效益的晶片规模制造。这种金属透镜将有可能取代垂直腔面发射激光器中的分布布拉格反射器(DBR)。这个目标是实现低角度(几度)或高角度(30度)。金属透镜将采用专有算法和基于应用程序编程接口的特殊代码进行设计，该接口链接并实现不同设计软件之间的数据交换，并将具有设计灵活性，从而可以通过线性调整每个薄膜厚度然后进行优化来实现感兴趣的波长。该项目的主要目标是(1)验证概念并探索其局限性，(2)设计的金属透镜的实验制造和表征，以及(3)开发可扩展的制造路径，以将此类金属透镜与激光芯片集成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop lightweight, compact, and all-semiconductor-manufactured optical devices based on metasurface technology. The manufacturing process of conventional optical devices involves techniques that face challenges in integration, assembly, and testing as well as long turnaround times and high costs. This lens technology, called metalenses, is superior to conventional lenses, which are typically made of glass or plastic. Metalenses are made from arrays of nanostructures, and these nanostructures interact with light at the nanoscale, allowing for precise control of the light properties. This project will significantly reduce the complexity of fabrication process where metalenses will be integrated with a semiconductor laser diode in a conventional manufacturing facility without the need for any additional or special equipment. The novel metalenses will be engineered and made of special multilayered thin films with high reflectivity. The metalenses will have wide application across a spectrum of industries, including, but not limited to, imaging, sensing, telecommunication, aerospace, and defense. The realization of this project will amplify global competition within the photonics industry and increase the competitiveness of the United States. It will increase employment opportunities across diverse high-tech domains, including chip manufacturing, photonics and optics.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to address the limitations of conventional methods for the control of laser beams. The innovation offers a novel approach to design and fabricate a spatial-dispersion-engineered metalens through cost-effective wafer-scale manufacturing. The metalenses will have the potential to replace the distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) in both top- and bottom-emitting Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers. This goal is to achieve either low ( a few degrees) or high divergence ( 30 degrees) angles. The metalenses will be designed with a proprietary algorithm and special code based on an application programming interface linking and enabling data exchange between different design software and will have design flexibility such that wavelengths of interest could be achieved by linearly adjusting each film thickness followed by an optimization. The project's key objectives are (1) the validation of the concept and exploration of its limitations, (2) the experimental fabrication and characterization of the designed metalenses, and (3) the development of scalable manufacturing pathways for the integration of such metalenses with laser chips.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.