Army awards Geltech grant for diffractive/refractive optics
Micro-optics manufacturer Geltech (Alachua, FL) has won a $500,000 Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the US Army for hybrid-optics-manufacturing development. In a feasibility study funded by a Phase I STTR grant, Geltech collaborated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN) to produce silica-glass diffractive/refractive optics via the sol-gel method (see Laser Focus World, October 1995, p. 20). Over the two-year duration of the Phase II grant, Geltech researchers will work with ORNL to extend the sol-gel hybrid-optics process to other materials such as traditional optical glasses and plastics. The elements have applications in optical data storage, imaging, and display technology.