US 8,075,942 B1Granted

Microengineered optical filters that closely match predefined transmission curves and systems and methods of manufacture

AssigneeNanoport Technologies

InventorsAndrew Julius Muray, Kathleen Muray

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Abstract

Disclosed are methods for producing optical filters on a substrate. In particular, methods for producing microengineered optical filters for the ultraviolet/visible/infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum are disclosed, as well as a computer-based system and method for precisely matching predefined target transmission spectra using various coating materials whose spectra can be combined and weighted for the matching. In addition, methods for producing printed optical filters comprising multiple coating components to produce composite optical filters whose transmission spectra match predefined target filter spectrum specifications are disclosed, where the thickness and fill factor of each component coating is tailored, based on the weighting of each component coating transmission spectrum.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A system, comprising:

a printing device having a printing resolution;
and
a processor configured to:
receive a target transmission spectrum for an optical filter design, wherein an optical filter filters electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, or combinations thereof, regions of the electromagnetic spectrum;
select a set of one or more filter component materials based, at least in part, on a stored transmission spectrum of each component;
multiply the stored transmission spectrum of each selected filter component material by an associated component weight factor to produce a weighted transmission spectrum for each selected filter component material;
combine the weighted transmission spectrum of each selected filter component material to produce a composite transmission spectrum;
optimize the value of the component weight factor associated with each component material so that the composite transmission spectrum matches the received target transmission spectrum;
calculate a corresponding fill factor and a thickness for each selected filter component material based, at least in part, upon the component weight factor associated with each selected filter component material, wherein the fill factor comprises a fraction of a filter area to be covered by the filter component material;
and
cause the printing device to print each of the selected filter component materials according to its corresponding thickness and fill factor to form an optical filter.

8 more elements

An optical filter, comprising:

a substrate material;
and
one or more optical coatings, wherein each optical coating comprises a filter component material, and wherein at least one of the one or more optical coatings is deposited as a plurality of discontinuous thin films on the substrate, wherein a composition of the optical filter is determined by:
receiving a target transmission spectrum for an optical filter design, wherein the optical filter filters electromagnetic radiation in a range from 10 nanometers to 1500 nanometers of the electromagnetic spectrum;
selecting a set of one or more filter component materials based, at least in part, on a stored transmission spectrum for each filter component material;
multiplying the stored transmission spectrum of each selected filter component material by an associated component weight factor to produce a weighted transmission spectrum for each selected filter component material;
combining the weighted transmission spectrum of each selected filter component material to produce a composite transmission spectrum;
and
optimizing the value of the component weight factor associated with each filter component material so that the composite transmission spectrum matches the received target transmission spectrum.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.