Survivable & Affordable Lens Technology (SALT)

Description

The objective of this effort is to obtain low cost infrared optics for attritable unmanned drone vehicles. The scope of this topic is to investigate whether alkali-halide optical materials can be used as cost-effective alternatives to the more traditional materials used in military-grade uncooled infrared sensors. A preferred use-case encompasses an uncooled infrared sensor such as the Odd Systems Kurbas-640, which has a focal plane containing 640 × 512 detector elements with a 12 micron pitch spacing, and which is combined with an imaging lens having an 18 mm focal length operating at F#/1.1 and with a transmission exceeding 70%.