Company Wins Contract to Improve Mirror Coatings

To improve its silver coatings for lightweight military mirror applications, Evaporated Metal Films Corp. of Ithaca, N.Y., has received a Phase 1 contract sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency's Small Business Technology Transfer program and managed by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala.

The company is collaborating on the project with a research group at Cornell University in Ithaca. They will develop highly reflective, durable silver films that can be cost-effectively manufactured and that can survive damp-heat and salt/fog environments. Among the potential military applications are missile guidance and tracking systems, high-acceleration scan and steering mirrors, and vehicle sighting systems and thermal imagers.