Two years ago, on January 29, 2021, IRflex Corporation signed a Phase II 800,000$US contract with the Department of Defense after completion of the Phase I project of the same title to develop an anti-reflective surface for infrared Optical fiber Endfaces. After 2 years completing the Phase II project objective, IRflex was awarded the option 300,000$US to continue the project.
The objective of the project is to develop an anti-reflective surface for use on bare and connectorized infrared fiber optic cable assembly in the wavelength interests of 1.4 to 5 micron. In such region, optical materials with a large index of refraction are often used. According to the Fresnel equation, reflection loss increases significantly when the difference between the index of the exit medium and the index of the entrance medium is 1 or greater. In addition to the need for low reflectivity, anti-reflective surfaces must be tolerant to high optical power. The end result of this project is an anti-reflective surface with an improved damage threshold for high power application that can be manufactured.
