Polymer-based lens project tackles terahertz and millimeter-wave applications
Marburg, Germany--A research project that aims for the development of new polymer-based lenses for terahertz and sub-millimeter-wave applications is being pursued by the experimental semiconductor physics group of the University of Marburg in cooperation with the South German Plastics Center (SKZ; Wurzburg, Germany). "We anticipate that these polymer-based lenses will provide an improved imaging quality, additional functionality as well as low material and production costs," says professor Martin Koch, head of the Marburg research group.
The increasing technological maturity of terahertz and microwave systems during the last two decades means that innovative technology such as low-cost plastic optics must advance beyond purely scientific interest towards industrial applications. The researchers say that terahertz technology will have a plethora of applications including industrial quality control, security checks, radio astronomy, and wireless communications.
The goal of the project is the development of terahertz lenses based on new mixtures between polymers and additives such as titanium dioxide or alumina powder. "By mixing the polymers with additives their refractive index will be increased. Simultaneously the material mixture should be highly transparent to terahertz waves," explains Koch.
The new terahertz lenses are expected to outperform lenses made of pure base polymers and they could replace more expensive lenses made from pure silicon. The project is funded by the Association of Industrial Research Organizations "Otto von Guericke" (AiF) within the program "Industrial Community Research" (IGF) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economics.
SOURCE: University of Marburg; www.uni-marburg.de/fb13/forschung/experimentelle-halbleiterphysik/agkoch/ag-koch?set_language=en
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.