Description: To address NASA's need for slow- and fast-light technologies, X-wave Innovations, Inc. (XII) proposes a fiber-based ADF trap-door-buffer FTI with more powerful spectrum resolving power than FTI supported by conventional dispersion-dependant slow-light. For the Phase I program, XII will prototype a fiber-based ADF trap-door-buffer FTI and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technique for high delay-time bandwidth and enhanced spectral resolution. For the Phase II program, XII will focus on refining the prototype system design and development with improved hardware and software. For the Phase III program, XII will focus on optimizing the prototype performance and collaborating with our commercial partners to package the sensor technology into a commercially-available system.

Benefits: The proposed work will lead to the development of Fourier transform spectrometers with a higher spectral sensitivity rather than the preceding slow-light enhanced FTIs. This spectral resolution enhancement will provide hyperspectral images of planetary nebulae, massive star clusters and star-forming which may boost up a large variety of planetary and stellar programs administrated by NASA.

The ADF trap-door-data buffer will not only benefit optical communications but also a delay line of coherent laser radar (CLADAR). The proposed research provides a great means to enable superior advantages in remote sensing, detection, surveillance, etc.