Composites of Fiber Reinforced Ultra Thin Films For X-Ray Applications

Luxel Corporation

Friday Harbor , WA
 

This SBIR developed a novel manufacturing process to incorporate composite polymer support mesh with polyimide or metallic ultra thin films. Fibers were characterized for adhesion, mechanical and vibration strength, X-ray transmittance, and throughput gains.

• By incorporating either high-modulus polymer fibers or tungsten filaments into a filter’s construction, average burst strength increases by 200% as compared to standard electroformed nickel mesh supports.
• Ultra-fine diameter filaments used in filter construction have the ability to reduce obscuration effects by 10 to 15% over existing mesh systems.
• Custom tooling and equipment provide a unique ability to fabricate mesh supports finely tuned to any project specification.
• Filters fabricated for X-ray and EUV applications using polymer composite support mesh are transparent at energies of 3k eV and above.
• A late discovery in the program resulted in a radically different method to produce composite polymer supports using photolithography and polyimide. Successful samples were delivered to NASA.

Polyimide and metallic filters using composite fiber reinforcements are now commercially available from Luxel on a custom basis.

• Potential NASA applications include enhanced X-ray and EUV filter technology. Polymer reinforcements developed during this SBIR offer significant beneficial impacts on the scientific returns of future missions.
• EUV filters employing composite fiber reinforcements find applications in fusion energy and other forms of plasma research, advanced microelectronic fabrication processes, photoemission microscopy and laser research.

Return to NASA SBIR Success Listings 

Curator: SBIR Support                8/23/05