Photonics Chip Laser Metrology System for LUVOIR
Project Description
In this project, we will design an integrated photonics circuit (PIC) that includes all essential laser metrology functions necessary for active alignment of multi-segmented telescopes represented by LUVOIR. The proposed photonics-chip metrology laser concept would dramatically simplify the existing metrology system in size and mass, and improve performance by integrating components into PICs with a much smaller footprint. This project will focus on designing the first prototype metrology PIC.
More »Anticipated Benefits
The ultimate goal is to produce a PIC metrology system with micrometer-level absolute and nano to picometer-level relative length variation measurement accuracy. Currently, PICs are used mainly for telecommunication and sensing applications, and not for precision laser metrology systems. We will utilize chip-scale wavelength references to further improve the metrology PIC performance. Capabilities provided by this technology are compact precision metrology system and integrated heterodyne interferometer. Potential applications for this technology include large-scale deployable telescope, coronagraph, and coherent laser ranging.
More »Project Library
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Lead Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Maryland
