SBIR-STTR Award

Advances in measurement devices spawn technological advances. New probes are needed to provide the necessary significant improvements to national and theater missile defense. Substantial improvements to present technology and the generation of new technologies are both needed. Optical components for hyperspectral and/or polarization imaging, parallel optical computing, optical signal processing, dense optical communication channels are a few examples of the advances needed. The scanning birefringence microscope proposed here will provide an analytical and development tool for such optical components. The inevitable need for increased miniaturization of these components will continue to increase the importance of device. We propose an optical measuring technique, which can detect small change in the linear birefringence of an optical material or device. These changes may result from differences in processing such as chemical composition, physical alignment, etc. or from undesired sources such as mechanical stress. The device is capable of both high resolution and high accuracy. It will provide information that complements such standard diagnostic tools as optical microscopes and scanning tunneling microscopes.

Birefringence microscopy provides a necessary tool for the next generation electro-optic components. This effort builds on the great success of the Phase I effort that demostrated a benchtop system that could measure birefringent samples with high spatial resolution (~1mm) and high accuracy (0.1m). From this basis we will develop an engineering prototype that meets the needs of industry and the military: lightweight, compact, robust, low cost and high performance. Precise characterization of birefringent materials is a necessity for the next generation of electro-optic devices. These birefringent devices are in widespread use as modulators and switches. One key application of this microscope is the analysis of densely packed optical components needed for applications such as advanced optical communications and optical computing. Birefringence microscopy offers the ability to provide quality control and development feedback for these components. The benchtop prototype has already generated great interest. Three manufacturers have provided electro-optical components for testing. However, a commercial birefringent microscope must be a low cost analytical tool, capable of high speed characterization in a convenient and efficient manner and this is the focus of the Phase II effort.

Keywords:
Retardance, Scanning, Microscopy, Polarization Modulation, Polarization Decoding, Electro-Optics, Image Enhancement, Quality Control