Description: Light Integration Technologies (LIT) and the University of Washington (UW) propose to develop a novel Liquid-Crystal integrated Serial Arrayed Waveguide Grating (LC-SAWG) photonic integrated channelizer for NASA's hyperspectral microwave sensing applications. The LC-SAWG builds upon the innovative SAWG architecture, enabling arbitrary filter shape synthesis, high channel density, and narrow bandwidths, and integrates liquid-crystal-based phase tuning for compact, low-power, and fast reconfigurability. The technology addresses the limitations of existing RF and photonic solutions in meeting the demanding requirements of NASA's Hyperspectral Microwave Photonic Instrument (HyMPI) program, which requires ultra-wide bandwidth, high spectral resolution (<1 GHz channels), and stringent size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) constraints. The LC-SAWG's unique capabilities, including multi-GHz instantaneous bandwidth channelization, sub-3 GHz channel bandwidths, high channel density, and superior filter characteristics, enable a disruptive solution for advanced hyperspectral microwave atmospheric sounding and remote sensing from space-based platforms. The funding will be used to develop system requirements, design and simulate the multi-level silicon nitride (SiN) photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform and key components, optimize the fabrication process, and characterize the liquid-crystal-based phase tuners. Phase I will culminate in demonstrating a liquid-crystal-based phase modulator on a low-loss, multi-level SiN PIC platform, validating the feasibility and paving the way for full LC-SAWG prototype development in Phase II. The LC-SAWG technology has significant market potential beyond NASA, including telecommunications (advanced WDM systems), spectroscopy (compact, high-resolution spectrometers), optical sensing, astronomy (high-resolution spectrographs), quantum optics (high-density quantum state multiplexing), and defense applications (mmwave sensing, secure comms)

Benefits: The LC-SAWG photonic integrated channelizer, proposed by LIT and UW, directly supports NASA's mission directives by enabling advanced hyperspectral microwave atmospheric sounding and remote sensing from space-based platforms. This technology is particularly relevant to NASA's Hyperspectral Microwave Photonic Instrument (HyMPI) program, which aims to develop a new generation of high-resolution, wide-bandwidth microwave sensors for Earth observation. The LC-SAWG's unique capabilities, including multi-GHz instantaneous bandwidth channelization, sub-3 GHz channel bandwidths, high channel density, and superior filter characteristics, make it an ideal solution for the demanding requirements of hyperspectral microwave sensing. By providing a compact, low-power, and fast-reconfigurable channelizer with high spectral resolution (<1 GHz channels), the LC-SAWG enables the efficient processing of wide-band atmospheric microwave spectra, which is crucial for accurate weather prediction, climate modeling, and environmental monitoring. Moreover, the LC-SAWG's innovative design, which combines the SAWG architecture with liquid-crystal-based phase tuning, offers significant advantages over existing RF and photonic solutions in terms of size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). These benefits are critical for space-based instruments, where SWaP-C constraints are stringent, and reliability and robustness are paramount. By enabling the development of compact, efficient, and high-performance microwave sensors, the LC-SAWG technology directly contributes to NASA's Earth Science mission, which seeks to advance our understanding of the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced changes. In addition to its immediate application in the HyMPI program, the LC-SAWG technology has the potential to support other NASA mission directives, such as atmospheric science, weather and climate monitoring, Earth surface and interior studies, and planetary exploration.The Liquid-Crystal integrated Serial Arrayed Waveguide Grating (LC-SAWG) photonic integrated channelizer, developed by Light Integration Technologies (LIT) and the University of Washington (UW), offers significant commercialization opportunities across a wide range of industries and applications. In telecommunications, the LC-SAWG's high channel density and narrow bandwidth make it an attractive solution for advanced wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, enhancing the performance of optical communication networks. The technology is also well-suited for spectroscopy, enabling the development of compact, high-resolution spectrometers and hyperspectral imaging systems for various applications, such as environmental monitoring, chemical analysis, and food safety. The LC-SAWG technology can be leveraged to develop advanced photonic sensor technologies for applications like structural health monitoring, gas sensing, and biomedical diagnostics. In the scientific research market, the LC-SAWG can enable high-resolution spectrographs and hyperspectral imagers for astronomy and Earth observation, as well as high-density multiplexing of quantum states for quantum optics and quantum information processing. Defense and aerospace industries also represent significant markets for the LC-SAWG technology, with potential applications in microwave and millimeter-wave sensing, electronic warfare, and secure optical communications. Overall, the LC-SAWG technology has broad commercialization potential across multiple industries, offering unique capabilities and advantages over existing solutions. As the technology matures, it is expected to attract significant interest from industry partners and investors, paving the way for successful commercialization and widespread adoption.