NSF Award
9661476
*** ABSTRACT 9661476 Castracane This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will establish the feasibility of producing a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based, reconfigurable optical grating. This new device will form the heart of the next generation of compact spectroscopic instruments. Fundamental research into the operation of such MEMS devices is required to optimize their operation and enable widespread applications. Specifically, this Phase I effort will focus on perfecting a MEMS grating array whose ruling spacing can be reconfigured in real time to allow for rapid, full spectral analysis of several passbands critical for accurate laboratory and field-ready sensor systems. Objectives include production and packaging of several prototype micro-gratings and measurement of switching performance, optical efficiency and spectral resolution. Exploiting the expertise that InterScience has developed in both electro-optic technology and the MEMS field, the Phase I research effort will attempt to establish the operation of such a MEMS grating and develop a design for its integration into a compact, optical domain spectroscopic system. This Phase I project will combine material, mechanical and optical research and development and pave the way for full implementation in Phase II. Commercial applications of the proposed research involve bringing fundamentally new spectroscopic instruments to market in areas such as atmospheric analysis, remote surveillance, and compact pressure and chemical sensing. In addition, there exist medical applications for this new instrument in innovative cardiac treatment modalities. ***
