Diffusion controlled nanocomposite-inks

1. A method of manufacturing a nanocomposite gradient-index optical element, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of nanocomposite inks comprising:

a diffusion-inhibiting nanocomposite ink formulated with equalized diffusion forces thereby retarding nanoparticle diffusion, and

a diffusion-permitting nanocomposite ink formulated with unequal diffusion forces thereby promoting nanoparticle diffusion, the diffusion-inhibiting nanocomposite ink inhibiting nanoparticle diffusion with respect to at least one other of the plurality of nanocomposite inks, the diffusion permitting nanocomposite-ink permitting nanoparticle diffusion with respect to at least one of the plurality of nanocomposite inks; and

depositing and curing a plurality of droplets of each of the plurality of nanocomposite inks to form a volumetric gradient refractive profile.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks have organic nanoparticle fillers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks have inorganic nanoparticle fillers.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein three nanocomposite-inks are provided.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks include a high refractive-index nanocomposite-ink and a low refractive-index nanocomposite-ink.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the low refractive-index nanocomposite-ink comprises of a hollow nanosphere, the hollow nanosphere composed primarily of air.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the nanoparticle concentrations of the high refractive-index nanocomposite-ink and the low refractive-index nanocomposite-ink is matched such that diffusion between the drops before curing is minimized.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the nanoparticle volumetric concentration of the high refractive-index nanocomposite-ink and the low refractive-index nanocomposite-ink is not matched.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the high refractive-index nanocomposite-ink and the low refractive-index nanocomposite-ink have closely matched Abbe numbers.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles diameter, shape, or combinations thereof in at least one of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks is tuned relative to the nanoparticle concentration, to minimize diffusion between the droplets before curing.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pH level of one of the plurality of the nanocomposite-inks is tuned relative to the nanoparticle concentration to minimize diffusion between the drops before curing.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks have more than one nanoparticle material type.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the nanocomposite-ink droplets is used to control diffusion of nanoparticles between the droplets of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks before curing.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of a substrate is adjusted to control diffusion between the droplets of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks before curing.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the droplet size, droplet velocity, droplet angle, and combinations thereof is adjusted to control diffusion between the droplets of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks before curing.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the droplets are electrically charged to control nanoparticle diffusion between the droplets of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks before curing.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks have closely matched optical dispersion characteristics.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nanocomposite-inks have the same organic-matrix type.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticle surfaces have a functionalized chemical coating that binds to an organic matrix or provides stearic hindrance to motion through the organic matrix.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles comprise one or more metal, dielectric, semiconductor, or organic material.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles are covalently bonded to an organic-matrix upon polymerization.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein nanoparticle diffusion between adjacent droplets of the plurality of nanocomposite-inks is limited by partially or fully curing the nanocomposite inks.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nanocomposite-inks have a composition such that the coefficient of thermal expansion is about uniform through the volumetric gradient refractive profile.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nanocomposite-inks are chosen such that the shrinking of droplets during curing is uniform.

25. A method of manufacturing a gradient-index optical element, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks formulated with equalized diffusion forces thereby retarding nanoparticle diffusion, at least two of the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite inks having at least one different optical property; and

depositing and curing droplets of the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks to form a volumetric gradient refractive profile.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein mixture of the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks is forced by advection transport mechanisms upon deposition.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the volumetric gradient refractive profile has a uniform nanoparticle concentration.

28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the deposition of the diffusion inhibited nanocomposite-inks results in a CTE matched GRIN optical-element.