STTR Phase II: 3D Lithography of Thick Photopolymers for Imaging and Photonic Crystal Waveguides

这一小型企业技术转移(STTR)第二阶段项目将最终形成一种新形式的3D光刻，能够制造成像阵列和光子晶体波导，这些阵列和光子晶体波导更便宜、更高性能、更轻、更灵活，并且具有目前使用当前堆叠和绘制无法实现的功能。制造业。例如，通过直接制造微米级的这些部件，可以在单个工艺步骤中产生诸如全局缩放(以实现放大阵列)、全局旋转(以实现图像反相器)或局部缩放(以实现模式渐变或集成微透镜)的扰动。与目前必须从预制件拉出最小公里的方法不同，这里的单个部分可以是厘米长的。成像阵列作为当前内窥镜、光纤面板和图像反相器的替代品具有巨大的商业潜力。它们还催生了新的市场，包括用于临床和公共安全应用的廉价眼睛监控，用于瘫痪患者的人机界面的可穿戴凝视跟踪，以及用于军事和消费者娱乐的超轻量级平视显示器。该团队将同时开发光刻和材料，以制造这些全聚合物成像电缆。光学图像的传输和处理无处不在，但几乎都是通过精细、僵硬的镜头链来实现的。分立成像设备，如光纤束，对于现代数字显示器和相机来说已经足够，自然坚固耐用，但目前受到成本和能力的限制。通过实现灵活、轻量级的离散图像传输，结果将会产生什么影响？教育、医学和生物研究与黄斑变性。第一阶段包括补充资金，部分资助了7名研究生、1名博士后和2名本科生。与爱尔兰都柏林交换研究生扩大了这一影响。该光刻系统已用于多个本科生课程项目和多个跨学科的研究生研究项目。一次性内窥镜具有高分辨率、小直径和大视场，以低得多的成本超过了目前的能力。Zenwa与史密斯-凯特尔韦尔眼科研究所签署了一项合作协议，开发一种轻型定制图像传输系统，以恢复严重视力受损的人的视力。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will culminate in a new form of 3D lithography capable of fabricating imaging arrays and photonic-crystal waveguides that are cheaper, higher performance, lighter, more flexible and have capabilities not currently possible with current ?stack and draw? manufacturing. For example, by directly fabricating these parts at the micron scale, perturbations such as global scaling (to implement magnifying arrays), global rotation (to implement image inverters) or local scaling (to implement modal tapers or integrated lenslets) can be created in a single process step. Unlike current methods which must draw out a minimum of km from a preform, here single parts can be cm in length. The imaging arrays have significant commercial potential as replacements for current endoscopes, fiber face plates and image inverters. They also enable new markets including inexpensive eye monitoring for clinical and public safety applications, wearable gaze-tracking for human-computer interface for paralysis victims, and ultra lightweight heads-up displays for military and consumer entertainment. The team will develop both the lithography and materials to create these all-polymer imaging cables. The transport and manipulation of optical images is ubiquitous but nearly uniformly implemented with delicate, rigid lens trains. Discrete imaging devices such as fiber bundles are sufficient for modern digital displays and cameras and are naturally robust, but currently limited by cost and capability. By enabling flexible, lightweight transport of discrete images, the results will impact ? Education, Medical and Biological Research and Macular Degeneration. The Phase I including supplementary funding has partially funded 7graduate, 1 post-doc and two undergraduate students. An exchange of graduate students with Dublin Ireland extended this impact. The lithography system has been used in multiple undergraduate class projects and for multiple cross-disciplinary graduate research programs. Disposable endoscopes with high resolution, small diameter and large field of view exceed current capabilities at much lower costs. Zenwa has signed a collaborative agreement with the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute to develop a lightweight customized image delivery system to restore sight to the severely vision impaired.