SBIR Phase II: Development of high-volume manufacturing processes for variable focus TAG Lens technology

这个小企业创新研究二期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是在发展中国家-S第一个超高速可变焦距光学透镜，可以完全批量生产，制造成本低，成品率高。该公司？S专有的可调谐声学梯度透镜技术为多个行业的未得到满足的市场需求提供了多样化的解决方案，包括医疗、安全和制造。虽然作为成像和处理应用的现有系统的附加组件很有价值，但它的用途可以扩展到其他应用，如医疗保健点医疗诊断成像和消费光学/电子产品。拟议的第二代镜头预计将使现有的变焦光学镜头市场增长5到10倍，并帮助将这一小企业转变为主要的原始设备组件制造商和供应商。该项目寻求设计一种大批量制造工艺，将提高一种新型超高速变焦设备的产品良率、重复性和可靠性。该公司？S专利的可调谐声学梯度透镜技术使用声音来整形光，能够在没有任何移动部件的情况下以比竞争技术快3个数量级的速度改变焦位。这一创新基于声波的传播，可以通过液体透镜中的压电元件改变折射率来控制声波的传播。第二阶段计划的重点是设计和优化新的镜头设计，以保留第一代镜头的基本功能和优势，同时获得公司核心技术的独特和行业领先优势。它还包括半自动原型制造、仔细的系统优化、分析和测试，为下一代产品的大规模生产铺平了道路。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is in developing the world?s first ultra-high-speed variable focus optical lens that can be fully mass-produced with low manufacturing costs and high yield. The company?s proprietary tunable acoustic gradient lens technology provides versatile solutions for unmet market needs across multiple sectors, including health, security, and manufacturing. While valuable as an add-on to existing systems for imaging and processing applications, its use can be extended to other applications such as point of care medical diagnostic imaging and consumer optics/electronics. The proposed second generation lens is expected to grow the existing market for variable focus optical lens by a factor of 5 to 10 and help transform this small business into a major original equipment components manufacturer and supplier.This project seeks to engineer a high volume manufacturing process that will increase product yield, reproducibility, and reliability for a novel ultra-high-speed variable focus device. The company?s patented tunable acoustic gradient lens technology uses sound to shape light, which enables the change of focal position without any moving parts at rates that are 3 orders of magnitude faster than competing technologies. The innovation is based on propagation of sound waves that can be controlled by the modification of the index of refraction by piezoelectric elements within the liquid lens. Phase II plan is focused on engineering and optimizing new lens designs that preserve the fundamental functionality and benefits of the first generation lens while also capturing the unique and industry leading benefits of the company's core technology. It also includes semi-automated prototype fabrication, careful system optimization, analysis and testing that pave the path to a next generation product that can be scaled up for mass-production.