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The project is broken into four primary groups: modeling, manufacturing, characterization, and science application. These groups balance the process and keep the project direction towards a product that is useful in space based atmospheric lidar systems. The project structure allows for a fast turnaround of photon sieves samples from design/theory (modeling) through manufacturing using Langley facilities and into the characterization lab. Over the last year, the photon sieve samples have evolved to 15 million holes with 1500 rings. In addition the team has designed and manufactured both flexible and transparent sample versions for characterization. The photon sieve optics have been coupled with an Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) laser signal in a characterization laboratory demonstration system. The OAM signal return carries the science data content of the observed target and focuses at the focal plane in the shape of a ring. Solar background noise does not have this OAM property to the extent of the OAM laser. This means the solar background noise focuses to a single point on the focal plane. The difference in the focusing properties between the OAM light and the solar noise light allow of a physical separation between the two signals at the focal plane. This is leveraged to increase the science signal to noise ratio of the lidar system. During the first year the project, the iterations between modeling, manufacturing, and characterization have identified that increasing the optical throughput efficiency is an area to improve the photon sieve design. A transparent photon sieve concept has been designed that shows a significant improvement in focal plane detector models. The manufacturing team has created a prototype sample for characterization. The goals for this year are:- Demonstrate the solar noise separation techniques using the OAM laser in a far field lidar measurement simulation- Manufacture/characterize 1500 ring transparent photon sieve samples- Manufacture/characterize 1500 ring reflective photon sieve samples- Manufacture/characterize 1500 ring flexible photon sieve samples- Conceptually design photon sieve lidar detector techniques. The Langley facilities are now ideal for the manufacturing of theoretical designs. Samples are limited to about 6 inches in diameter. This is enough for characterization of research samples and fast enough to iterate through numerous designs. Larger mission-scale telescope will be manufactured via contract to industry. The laser lithography and direct laser ablation techniques used at Langley are available cost effectively by industry, when an optimized sieve design is provided. The following year will focus on the demonstration of noise reduction detector techniques in a pulsed lidar environment.
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Some projects will align only with either CIF or IRAD support, but many are supported by a combination of both programs to leverage the most from limited resources. The investment in these early stage technologies is intended to mature them to the point that, if successful, they can substantially influence future Mission Directorate programs and projects, and receive follow-on support from NASA programs, external partners, or through commercialization.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":167,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36655,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: LaRC CIF","acronymOrTitle":"LaRC CIF"},"description":"
This project evaluates the use of a photon sieve telescope for remote sensing lidar systems to reduce the mass, volume and cost associated with traditional lidar telescopes. By the end of FY16, the project will have designed and manufactured a series of 2-inch photon sieve samples for lab bench testing. Samples would be manufactured using existing equipment at Langley. The bench testing will quantify the efficiency of the sieve and its ability to reduce noise.
","benefits":"With initial success in FY16, the team will pursue an SMD/ESTO ACT opportunity in January 2017 by proposing to integrate the photon sieve into an aircraft base lidar system. The Earth Science cloud, aerosol, and ocean color science community will benefit by the simplified optics, reduced mass, and filtering of sun light.
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":1,"trlCurrent":3,"trlEnd":3,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[{"contactId":159179,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Gary","lastName":"Fleming","fullName":"Gary A Fleming","fullNameInverted":"Fleming, Gary A","middleInitial":"A","email":"gary.a.fleming@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Manager","programContactId":256,"programId":167,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Manager","projectContactRolePretty":""},{"contactId":377059,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Phillip","lastName":"Williams","fullName":"Phillip A Williams","fullNameInverted":"Williams, Phillip A","middleInitial":"A","email":"phillip.a.williams@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Manager","programContactId":284,"programId":167,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Manager","projectContactRolePretty":""},{"contactId":233104,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"John","lastName":"Nelson","fullName":"John C Nelson","fullNameInverted":"Nelson, John C","middleInitial":"C","email":"john.c.nelson@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Director","programContactId":253,"programId":167,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Director","projectContactRolePretty":""}],"endDateString":"Sep 2016","startDateString":"Oct 2015"},"relatedProjectId":146088,"relatedProject":{"projectId":146088,"title":"Evaluation of a Photon Sieve for Lidar Application, Year 2","startDate":"2016-10-01","startYear":2016,"startMonth":10,"endDate":"2017-07-01","endYear":2017,"endMonth":7,"programId":167,"program":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"LaRC CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities within the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at NASA Langley Research Center.
Through the Independent Research and Developments activity, NASA Langley Research Center allocates funds to invest in early stage, high-payoff technologies and systems that are aligned with the NASA and Langley strategic plans and have high potential for future applications.
Some projects will align only with either CIF or IRAD support, but many are supported by a combination of both programs to leverage the most from limited resources. The investment in these early stage technologies is intended to mature them to the point that, if successful, they can substantially influence future Mission Directorate programs and projects, and receive follow-on support from NASA programs, external partners, or through commercialization.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"acronym":"CIF","isActive":true,"description":"Through the Center Innovation Fund, the Space Technology Mission Directorate allocates a small portion of the NASA workforce and procurement budget to internal research and development to feed early stage innovation in technology and exploration. Activities with in the Center Innovation Fund are proposed and led by NASA scientists and engineers. These activities and creative initiatives pursue emerging technologies that leverage talent and capabilities at the NASA Centers.
","parentProgram":{"ableToSelect":false,"isActive":true,"description":"Catalyst is a portfolio of early stage programs that specialize in different innovation constituencies and mechanisms to push the state of the art in aerospace technology development","programId":92327,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"title":"Catalyst","acronymOrTitle":"Catalyst"},"parentProgramId":92327,"programId":64,"responsibleMd":{"canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":""},"stockImageFileId":36643,"title":"Center Innovation Fund","acronymOrTitle":"CIF"},"parentProgramId":64,"programId":167,"responsibleMd":{"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","acronym":"STMD","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","canUserEdit":false,"locationEdit":false,"organizationRolePretty":"","organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdOffice":4875,"stockImageFileId":36655,"title":"Center Innovation Fund: LaRC CIF","acronymOrTitle":"LaRC CIF"},"description":"
The project is broken into four primary groups: modeling, manufacturing, characterization, and science application. These groups balance the process and keep the project direction towards a product that is useful in space based atmospheric lidar systems. The project structure allows for a fast turnaround of photon sieves samples from design/theory (modeling) through manufacturing using Langley facilities and into the characterization lab. Over the last year, the photon sieve samples have evolved to 15 million holes with 1500 rings. In addition the team has designed and manufactured both flexible and transparent sample versions for characterization. The photon sieve optics have been coupled with an Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) laser signal in a characterization laboratory demonstration system. The OAM signal return carries the science data content of the observed target and focuses at the focal plane in the shape of a ring. Solar background noise does not have this OAM property to the extent of the OAM laser. This means the solar background noise focuses to a single point on the focal plane. The difference in the focusing properties between the OAM light and the solar noise light allow of a physical separation between the two signals at the focal plane. This is leveraged to increase the science signal to noise ratio of the lidar system. During the first year the project, the iterations between modeling, manufacturing, and characterization have identified that increasing the optical throughput efficiency is an area to improve the photon sieve design. A transparent photon sieve concept has been designed that shows a significant improvement in focal plane detector models. The manufacturing team has created a prototype sample for characterization. The goals for this year are:- Demonstrate the solar noise separation techniques using the OAM laser in a far field lidar measurement simulation- Manufacture/characterize 1500 ring transparent photon sieve samples- Manufacture/characterize 1500 ring reflective photon sieve samples- Manufacture/characterize 1500 ring flexible photon sieve samples- Conceptually design photon sieve lidar detector techniques. The Langley facilities are now ideal for the manufacturing of theoretical designs. Samples are limited to about 6 inches in diameter. This is enough for characterization of research samples and fast enough to iterate through numerous designs. Larger mission-scale telescope will be manufactured via contract to industry. The laser lithography and direct laser ablation techniques used at Langley are available cost effectively by industry, when an optimized sieve design is provided. The following year will focus on the demonstration of noise reduction detector techniques in a pulsed lidar environment.
","benefits":"This project demonstrates instrument payload design thresholds, where a lightweight deployable photon sieve would replace a rigid tradition reflector telescope in a space lidar system. Current lidar systems require a massive telescope for the collection of photons from the observed target. The weak science return signal competes with solar background noise signal at the detector. As a traditional telescope diameter increases to collect more science signal, additional solar background noise is observed by the system. Applying a photon sieve as the collection telescope offers opportunity to physically separate science signal from solar background noise. Photon sieves has been studied for various imaging applications, since about 2001. Inefficiencies associated with wavelengths focusing as difference focal lengths is a challenge in imagine system, but an advantage in lidar systems
","releaseStatus":"Released","status":"Completed","destinationType":[],"trlBegin":3,"trlCurrent":4,"trlEnd":4,"favorited":false,"detailedFunding":false,"programContacts":[{"contactId":159179,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Gary","lastName":"Fleming","fullName":"Gary A Fleming","fullNameInverted":"Fleming, Gary A","middleInitial":"A","email":"gary.a.fleming@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Manager","programContactId":256,"programId":167,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Manager","projectContactRolePretty":""},{"contactId":377059,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Phillip","lastName":"Williams","fullName":"Phillip A Williams","fullNameInverted":"Williams, Phillip A","middleInitial":"A","email":"phillip.a.williams@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Manager","programContactId":284,"programId":167,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Manager","projectContactRolePretty":""},{"contactId":233104,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"John","lastName":"Nelson","fullName":"John C Nelson","fullNameInverted":"Nelson, John C","middleInitial":"C","email":"john.c.nelson@nasa.gov","receiveEmail":"Subscribed_User","programContactRole":"Program_Director","programContactId":253,"programId":167,"programContactRolePretty":"Program Director","projectContactRolePretty":""}],"endDateString":"Jul 2017","startDateString":"Oct 2016"},"technologyOutcomePartner":"Other","technologyOutcomeDate":"2016-10-01","technologyOutcomePath":"Advanced_To","details":"","infoText":"Advanced within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Evaluation of a Photon Sieve for Lidar Application, Year 2)","isIndirect":true,"infusionPretty":"","isBiDirectional":true,"technologyOutcomeDateString":"Oct 2016","technologyOutcomeDateFullString":"October 2016","technologyOutcomePartnerPretty":"Other","technologyOutcomePathPretty":"Advanced To","technologyOutcomeRationalePretty":""}],"libraryItems":[{"files":[],"libraryItemId":363026,"title":"Project Website","libraryItemType":"Link","url":"https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/home/index.html","projectId":91235,"internalOnly":false,"publishedDateString":"","entryDateString":"01/22/25 01:10 AM","libraryItemTypePretty":"Link","modifiedDateString":"10/25/24 02:23 PM"}],"states":[{"abbreviation":"VA","country":{"abbreviation":"US","countryId":236,"name":"United States"},"countryId":236,"name":"Virginia","stateTerritoryId":7,"isTerritory":false}],"endDateString":"Sep 2016","startDateString":"Oct 2015"}}