The U.S. Navy has a need for improving the defense of their ships and components through high risk/payoff technologies. Self-defense can be greatly improved by using measures to control the electromagnetic signatures of Navy platforms. There has yet to be developed, a truly adaptive, multi-spectral solution. This project is to develop several material options through sputtered thin film deposition; whereby the pseudo multi-layer films will modulate the signature of sea vessels from the ultraviolet to RF regions. The proposed program is to use the research we have performed in the development of physical vapor deposited thin films, to further develop innovative coatings that fulfill the Navy's needs for the year 2000 and beyond. Prototype materials will be made by a process known as vapor deposition, along with our proprietary sputtering source. The Phase I efforts will produce materials that will provide adaptive signature regulation, wide reflectance or emittance characteristics, by continuous variation of optical admittance, and test data to demonstrate proof of concept and multi-spectral compatibility. The Phase II effort will focus on optimizing performance parameters, increasing the materials data base, and development of large scale panels for an advanced technology demonstrator.
