Fluidic Shaping of Optical Components on Earth and in Space

We propose to develop and demonstrate a new concept that leverages the fundamental physics of interfacial phenomena to rapidly fabricate complex optical components of any size (from millimeters to meters) with sub-nanometer surface roughness, without the need for any mechanical processing such as grinding or polishing.

We term our approach ‘Fluidic Shaping’ to describe its core principle – the ability to take a volume of liquid, shape it into a desired form, and finally cure it to obtain a solid object.

The method relies on negating gravitational forces that act on the liquid, which we achieve on Earth using buoyancy forces, and which can be naturally achieved in space flight.

By dictating the boundary conditions of the liquid, we vary the minimum energy state of the system, and drive the liquid interface into a desired shape.

The proposed project is composed of five main aims: (1) development of a theoretical framework that would describe the range of optical surfaces that could be produced and provide engineering guidelines for the rest of the project, (2) development of a stand-alone device for fabrication of high quality corrective lenses, (3) development of methods for fabrication of high precision optics, and expansion of the range of materials that could be used, (4) demonstration of in-space manufacturing of optical components, and (5) development of approaches for deployment of very large (meters) fluidic lenses.

These aims serve to put in place the basic and foundational knowledge that could enable transformative changes in multiple fields: (a) rapid prototyping of optical components – by enabling fabrication of custom, high precision optics in minutes, (b) access to corrective eyewear in low resource settings – by enabling fabrication of quality lenses without heavy infrastructure, (c) space exploration – by enabling in-space manufacturing of optics, and (d) astronomy – by enabling large space telescopes that overcome current launch constraints.