SBIR Phase I: Light-channeling Metamaterials for Polarimetric Sensing

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将评估使用等离子体/光子混合晶体这一超材料子集的各种光管理能力的可行性，以开发性能更高、成本更低的偏振红外传感器。该公司的混合晶体，单层表面结构，可以使用标准的CMOS制造技术在任何衬底材料上制造。消光比至少为500:1的原型偏振器阵列；具有高达5000:1比率的潜力；将被设计，建模，制造和初步表征。预计该结构还将最大限度地减少光散射，这是当前偏振传感器中影响性能的串扰的主要原因。该设计将在周期性亚波长孔径内使用偏振相关的光学和电磁模式，以实现高偏振消光比，并最大限度地减少或消除表面偏振器的光散射。制造工艺将被开发，混合晶体的初步原型将被应用于在4-5米范围内工作的偏振传感器。这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将代表一个突破性的使能工具，以极其多样化、精确和复杂的方式管理光电器件中的光流。并且可以很容易地应用于在多个波长范围和多个行业中工作的各种光子元件阵列。该技术涉及基于cmos的简单单层结构制造，它本质上与衬底无关；这种杂化晶体几乎可以在任何材料上制造。潜在的设备应用包括，但不限于，红外成像传感器，隐形设备，太阳能电池和所有光学存储阵列。仅这些设备的年市场机会就约为150亿美元。潜在的社会影响是巨大的，因为最终用途应用包括：与关键军事和国土安全任务有关的遥感以及用于全球变暖研究的行星制图；发展更高密度、更高速度的计算机，以及对环境化学和生物威胁的检测。“这项奖励是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。”

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will assess the feasibility of using the diverse, enabling light management capabilities of a subset of metamaterials called Plasmonic/ Photonic Hybrid Crystals to develop higher-performance, lower-cost polarimetric infrared sensors. The company's hybrid crystals, single-layer surface structures, can be fabricated atop any substrate material using standard CMOS fabrication techniques. A prototype polarizer array capable of extinction ratios of at least 500:1; with the potential of ratios as high as 5000:1; will be designed, modeled, fabricated and initially characterized. It is anticipated that the structure will also minimize light scattering, the primary cause of performance impairing crosstalk in current polarimetric sensors. The design will use polarization-dependent optical and electromagnetic modes within periodic subwavelength apertures to achieve the high polarization extinction ratios and to minimize or eliminate light scattering from surface polarizers. Fabrication processes will be developed and a preliminary prototype of a hybrid crystal to be applied to a polarimetric sensor operating in the 4-5m range will be fabricated The broader impacts/commercial potential of this project will represent a breakthrough enabling tool for managing the flow of light in optoelectronic devices in extremely varied, precise and sophisticated ways, and can be readily applied to a diverse array of photonic components operating in several wavelength ranges and across multiple industries. This technology involves CMOS-based fabrication of simple single-layer structures, it is essentially substrate independent; the hybrid crystals can be fabricated atop almost any material. Potential device applications include, but are not limited to, infrared imaging sensors, cloaking devices, solar cells and all optical memory arrays. The annual market opportunity for these devices alone is approximately $15 billion. The potential societal impact is significant, as the end-use applications include: remote sensing related to critical military and homeland security missions as well as to planetary mapping for global warming research; the development of higher-density, higher-speed computers, and the detection of environmental chemical and biological threats."This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."