SBIR-STTR Award

Freeform GRIN optics will be developed for fire-control systems. In the Phase I effort, 1) a 36-mm F/4 freeform GRIN objective optic with a half field of view no less than 4 degrees, and 2) a 20-diopter freeform GRIN Alvarez optical pair will be designed, fabricated, and optimized for achromatic performance over the 390-nm to 700-nm spectral range. The lens performance will be assessed by measuring wavefront and chromatic distortion, monochromatic and polychromatic spot diagrams, ray fans, modulation transfer function, and field curvature, and comparing the measurements to the modeled performance. In the Phase I option, the 36-mm F/4 GRIN objective lens will be configured with the Alvarez lenses, with a motorized controller, and a prototype variable-magnification (1x to 5x) scope optic will be demonstrated. The optical performance of the system will be characterized, and the benefits of the technology compared to conventional glass optics will be quantified. In Phase II, a gun-hardened scope optic will be optimized, field tested, and live-fire tested.

In this Phase II SBIR, Voxtel is designing freeform gradient-index (GRIN) optics that will enable a reduction in the number of lens elements required to reproduce color-corrected imagery to benefit squad, crew-served, and sniper fire-control systems by reducing the size, weight, and complexity of the optics used in fire-control systems. The additional degrees of design freedom enabled by the revolutionary freeform optics materials and processes used in this program will benefit myriad electro-optical lens applications, notably, the U.S. military's need for sensors in smart munitions and lightweight airborne optics. An optimized gun-hardened riflescope optic with a motorized magnification controller will be field-tested and live-fire-tested. A 36-mm GRIN f4 objective and the Alvarez GRIN optics will be configured with a motorized controller, and the performance of the freeform GRIN optical elements will be optimized then integrated with a freeform GRIN eyepiece and reticle. These results will be used to quantify the size and weight advantages, as a function of performance, that freeform GRIN technologies offer to tactical scopes. The program goal is to achieve efficiencies of at least 20%, as measured by the number of optical elements and the size and weight of the of the optical system.