NEW INTEGRATION PHOTONICS — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: S2

NEW INTEGRATION PHOTONICS — SBIR Phase I award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Phase I SBIR feasibility signal

  • Phase I awards fund proof-of-concept work. For capture teams, they mark early interest from National Aeronautics and Space Administration in a technical approach.
  • Watch for Phase II follow-ons from the same firm/topic family — that conversion path is where budgets and transition pressure rise.
  • Obligated amount $124,668. Cross-check similar awards in the same agency and technology tags for going-rate context.
  • Topic code S2 links this award to a solicitation family — search the same topic stem for incumbents and recompete timing.

Informational capture context from public federal data — not legal or bid advice.

Amount
$124,668
Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Program / Phase
SBIR · Phase I
Topic
S2
Solicitation
SBIR_20_P1
NAICS
Place of performance
MD
Period
2020-08-31 → 2021-03-01

Description

We arenbsp;proposing to develop an integrated photonic chip for implementing a cascadednbsp;arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) spectrometers on a Si3N4/SiO2 platform for use in the detection of exoplanets based on Precision Radial Velocity (PRV) method.nbsp;In Phase I of this proposal, an integrated high spectral resolving power (R~150,000), high throughput (~25%) AWG spectrometer with multiple fiber inputs for simultaneous calibration on a Si3N4/SiO2 platform is proposed, which will be followed by a Phase II proposal for designing a flat focal field AWG spectrometer, with the focal signals of all wavelengths of operation focusing along a straight line, and for designing a polarization insensitive AWG for measuring the optical spectra of the star and the planet.nbsp;Integration on a chip reduces the size, the weight, the cost, and increases the stability of astronomical spectrographs.nbsp;An external calibration sources, like Optical Frequency Combs (OFCs), can be coupled to the AWG spectrometers through the additional fiber inputs to provide the broad spectral coverage and long-term (years) stability needed for extreme PRV detection of exoplanets.