According to the NASA SBIR 2014 Phase I Solicitation, there are several different missions for which large aperture, light-weight mirrors with a broadband high reflectance coating is an enabling technology. Delivering a 1.2-m mirror which meets optical performance in this Phase I will demonstrate an ability to coat meter class surfaces. ZeCoat's 1.2-m process is readily scaleable to 4-m or 8-m mirrors, limited only by the size of the vacuum chamber. Future UV/optical telescopes such as ATLAST-9 or ATLAST-16 will benefit greatly from this technology. NASA also has missions requiring smaller FUV mirrors such as ICON, and currently only GSFC is a qualified supplier of this type of mirror coating. It would be beneficial for NASA to have a commercial supplier for small FUV mirrors.
Upon development, ZeCoat will offer for sale UV coatings for commercial purposes such as microlithographic processes operating in the 100-nm to 200-nm wavelength range. Potential customers include, but are not limited to, AFRL, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.
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