Canadian imaging technology developer NexOptic Technology expects the imminent completion of assembly of the ground breaking Blade Optics lens, planning to take the prototype on a road show from January early in the New Year.

“We are indeed very close to completing the project now, with final assembly and ongoing testing taking place. We look forward to taking the device on location soon, to do some astronomy and imaging,” president and CEO Paul McKenzie tells Engineering News in an interview.

The revolutionary digital telescope, developed in partnership with Calgary-based technology partner Spectrum Optix, is being built by optic specialist Ruda Cardinal who is expected to deliver the high-quality lens stack prototype in the first quarter.

The initial criteria for Spectrum’s proof-of-concept (POC) prototype lens stack design included a lens-stack-depth-to-aperture ratio of near 1:1, the use of flat lenses, the use of a square or rectangular aperture as opposed to circular, a significant effective focal length in a compact form factor, and being scalable to various sizes.

Ongoing testing of the prototype has to date validated all engineering simulations, and in some cases exceeded expectations, McKenzie points out.

“It will provide us a platform with which to demonstrate the technology. Concurrently, we have also started planning and analysis for other future devices using the Blade Optcs technology,” he notes.

While the company only plans to stage a media event later in January to showcase the completed prototype lens, it is already drawing interest from larger market players, although it had not yet resulted in anything material, McKenzie said.

Testing Success
In conjunction with Ruda Cardinal, testing of the Blade Optics portion of the prototype was completed in the visible spectrum at 486 nm (nanometre), 589 nm, and 656 nm wavelengths, with a 10 nm band. Key reference factors for Spectrum’s patent pending Blade Optics technology, such as spot size and aberrations, were tested and conformed to performance specifications identified in the simulations phase of development.

NexOptic said the diffraction limit of the nominal system is about 17 um (micrometers), while still maintaining the approximate five-inch depth of the overall POC device. This demonstrates the potential for excellent image quality from the POC within the form factor enabled by Blade Optics.

Meanwhile, Spectrum was recently awarded patent approval for its square imaging aperture form factor from the European Union International Intellectual Property Office and written confirmation this patent is valid for 25 years.

NexOptic has secured an option to acquire a 100% stake in Spectrum, after contributing C$3-million to Spectrum’s project development. McKenzie noted that the company has to date sunk about C$2-million capital in pursuit of this goal.