SBIR-STTR Award

Development of high-volume manufacturing processes for variable focus TAG Lens technology
Award last edited on: 9/22/2015

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NSF
Total Award Amount
$878,215
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
-----

Principal Investigator
Christian Theriault

Company Information

TAG Optics Inc

247 Nassau Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
   (609) 436-0107
   info@tagoptics.com
   www.tagoptics.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 12
County: Mercer

Phase I

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase I year
2013
Phase I Amount
$178,171
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to create an ultra-high-speed variable focus optical element meeting the robust performance needs associated with laser manufacturing. The ability to change the focal spot location in laser processing is necessary to accommodate the rapid throughput and complex materials shapes and structures generally encountered in industrial manufacturing. However, the state-of-the-art remains slow, mechanically moving lenses, which can lead to increased production times, reduced accuracy, increased system complexity and overall increased cost. Instead, this work proposes a paradigm-shifting approach to variable focus by developing a new type of liquid lens that uses sound to shape and refocus light. In order to implement this rapidly growing, high impact technology in the manufacturing arena, the key challenge is to manage and reduce laser heating of the device which can lead to undesirable optical effects. By using a combination of experimental tests and numerical models we expect to determine the optimum design conditions that minimize heating effects and maximize refractive power of the lens. With the inclusion of passive and active cooling approaches we expect to enable lens operation for production-level laser manufacturing across different power and pulse duration scales.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will have significant repercussions in the laser manufacturing industry, an increasingly important industry which is in many ways responsible for the efficiency and economical cost of every day materials and devices. Specifically, this project addresses a technological market need which will reduce the manufacturing cycle, and streamline processes by providing additional control of the laser beam in the z axis without effecting the x and y axis resolution; thereby, improving the manufacturing yield by increasing the precision, and speed of laser manufacturing systems. Improvements in manufacturing yield are incredibly important to both societal and environmental conditions as they lead to a reduction in waste, an increase in the quality of the parts produced, and a reduction in manufacturing costs. Additionally this proposal will increase scientific and technical understanding on how to applying ultra-high speed z-scanning optical devices in high power lasers systems for manufacturing operation. This will not only lead to the incorporation of such devices in already existing systems but more importantly, enable new innovations such as the creation of entirely new manufacturing approaches with increased performance and capabilities.

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase II year
2014
Phase II Amount
$700,044
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is in developing the world?s first ultra-high-speed variable focus optical lens that can be fully mass-produced with low manufacturing costs and high yield. The company?s proprietary tunable acoustic gradient lens technology provides versatile solutions for unmet market needs across multiple sectors, including health, security, and manufacturing. While valuable as an add-on to existing systems for imaging and processing applications, its use can be extended to other applications such as point of care medical diagnostic imaging and consumer optics/electronics. The proposed second generation lens is expected to grow the existing market for variable focus optical lens by a factor of 5 to 10 and help transform this small business into a major original equipment components manufacturer and supplier.This project seeks to engineer a high volume manufacturing process that will increase product yield, reproducibility, and reliability for a novel ultra-high-speed variable focus device. The company?s patented tunable acoustic gradient lens technology uses sound to shape light, which enables the change of focal position without any moving parts at rates that are 3 orders of magnitude faster than competing technologies. The innovation is based on propagation of sound waves that can be controlled by the modification of the index of refraction by piezoelectric elements within the liquid lens. Phase II plan is focused on engineering and optimizing new lens designs that preserve the fundamental functionality and benefits of the first generation lens while also capturing the unique and industry leading benefits of the company's core technology. It also includes semi-automated prototype fabrication, careful system optimization, analysis and testing that pave the path to a next generation product that can be scaled up for mass-production.