SBIR Phase I: Liquid Lens for Laser Nanomachining

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种液体透镜，用于脉冲激光束的纳米加工材料。项目团队将设计并制造一种液体透镜，能够通过其非线性效应，包括自聚焦、自捕获和强激光束在液体中传播产生的谐波，产生纳米级（20-100 nm）的激光束光斑。最终产品将是一个光纤电缆组件，其中非线性光学液体将填充在芯径为1毫米的中空玻璃波导中，端面将用两个标准SMA 905连接器固定。当与高能调q Nd: YAG激光器相结合时，这种独特的液体透镜只需改变液体介质即可获得各种纳米光斑尺寸和波长。该项目团队将在隔振工作环境中演示液体透镜用于医疗设备（如导管）纳米加工的可行性。在商业上，所提出的液体透镜和纳米加工旨在填补高科技工业的小型化需求。可能的商业应用包括医疗设备（起搏器、植入物、支架、导管）、电子和光子设备、磁盘、仪器、电信设备和微机电系统（MEMS）。液体透镜将为现代激光系统、单波长激光的灵活加工和超精密加工提供新的能力。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project, will develop a liquid lens for nanomachining materials with pulsed laser beams. The project team will design and fabricate a liquid lens capable of producing laser beam spot sizes on the order of nanometers (20-100 nm) through its nonlinear effects, including self-focusing, self-trapping, and harmonic generation obtained through intense laser beam propagation in liquid. The end product will be a fiber optic cable assembly in which the nonlinear optical liquid will be filled in hollow glass waveguides with a core diameter of one millimeter and the end faces will be fastened with two standard SMA 905 connectors. Upon interfacing with a high energy, Q-switched Nd: YAG laser, this unique liquid lens will facilitate obtaining various nanometer spot sizes and wavelengths by simply changing the liquid medium. The project team will demonstrate the feasibility of a liquid lens for nanomachining of medical devices such as catheters in a vibration-isolation work environment. Commercially, the proposed liquid lens and nanomachining are intended to fill the miniaturization needs of high-technology industries. Possible commercial applications include medical devices (pacemakers, implants,stents,catheters), electronic and photonic devices, magnetic disks, instrumentation, telecommunication devices, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The liquid lens will offer new capabilities for modern laser systems, flexible processing with single wavelength laser, and ultra-precision machining.