SBIR Phase I: Large nanostructured changes in refractive index in any 3D geometry

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to enable an alternative to traditional nanofabrication which relies on structuring material in two-dimensional layers. These processes often limit the current design-space and prototyping/manufacturing methods with not only what can be made, but also the time and resources required for development, relegating viable commercial applications to only high-volume markets.

These shortcomings will be addressed by developing a new form of nanofabrication 3D-printing capable of rapid-prototyping and mass-manufacturing photonic components with cheaper systems enabling the mass-customization of components that can more rapidly address market needs in both low- and high-volume markets. Products developed using this nanofabrication process for photonics components may address inefficiencies in datacenters with low-loss optical interconnects, as well as enabling complex optical filters, near-eye displays, and ultracompact lenses.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops a nanofabrication process for optical and photonic components to be fabricated with large changes in refractive index at nanoscale resolutions into any 3D geometry with graded control. The process uses volumetric deposition of nanomaterials consisting of high refractive index dielectrics into a patterned polyelectrolyte gel scaffold which, once shrunken, improves both resolution and density of the patterned materials.

By utilizing two-photon lithography and linear shrink factors the process can achieve feature sizes below 25nm while allowing for the creation of gradient patterns in any 3D geometry. Combining this patterning and shrink strategy with a method to volumetrically deposit high refractive index dielectric nanomaterials will allow for a degree of control over refractive index never before possible; allowing light to be sculpted in 3D with unprecedented control.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.