Glass Micro-Optics

9413013胡德-沃尔特对基础研究的资助在与国家需求相关的情况下是最有吸引力的。这项建议专门针对玻璃科学中的一个基本问题(离子交换)，该问题与用于微创外科程序的医疗器械的制造密切相关，从而缩短住院时间，减少对患者的创伤，并显著降低治疗和恢复成本。许多其他光学系统，如用于环境监测的遥感和智能汽车所需的距离传感，要么使用或可能在不久的将来使用离子交换玻璃微光学。这项工作的科学目标是更好地了解具有重要商业意义的玻璃的结构、组成和性能之间的关系，并缩短通过离子交换制造的光子组件(梯度折射率微光学)的产品开发时间。相关的结构化学参数将通过X射线吸收光谱获得，并将作为同一玻璃的分子动力学模拟的约束条件。阳离子环境随组成和工艺条件的变化将在实验室中进行研究，并与传输行为和所产生的折射率分布相关。还将在离子交换的计算机实验中观察到传输特性，并将使用少数组分对传输行为的模拟效果来指导玻璃成分的定制，以适应特定的梯度折射率和微光学应用。这一成果将被用于梯度透镜公司的原型透镜，以及纽约州罗切斯特的一家生产微型光学元件和梯度折射率透镜的小型高科技公司。到项目的第三年，我们将把大量的扩散参数和模型纳入到商业透镜设计程序中，并将设计、公差、制造和测试离子交换梯度折射率透镜系统的质量。***

9413013 Houde-Walter Funding for basic research is most compelling when it is connected to national needs. This proposal specifically addresses a fundamental issue in glass science (ion exchange) which is closely related to manufacture of medical instruments which are used in minimally invasive surgical procedures, resulting in shorter hospital stays, less trauma to the patient and significantly lower costs of treatment and recovery. Many other optical systems, such as those used in remote sensing for environmental monitoring and in distance sensing needed in intelligent automobiles, either use or are likely to use in the imminent future, ion-exchanged glass micro-optics. The scientific goal of this work is to better understand the relation between structure, composition and properties of commercially important glasses and to shorten the product development time of photonic components (gradient-index micro- optics) that are fabricated by ion exchange. Relevant structural chemistry parameters will be obtained by x-ray absorption spectroscopy and will serve as constraints on molecular dynamic modeling of the same glasses. Changes in the cation environment with composition and processing conditions will be investigated in the lab and related to transport behavior and the resultant index profiles. The transport properties will also be observed in computer experiments of ion exchange and the simulated effect of minority components on transport behavior will be used to guide the tailoring of glass compositions to particular gradient-index and micro-optic applications. The results will be incorporated in prototype lenses at Gradient Lens Corp., and a small high tech company in Rochester, NY, that manufactures micro-optics and gradient-index lenses. By the third year on the project we will have incorporated a large repertoire of diffusion parameters and models into a commercial lens design program and will have designed, toleranced, fabricated and tested the qual ity of an ion- exchanged gradient-index lens system. ***