WE PROPOSE TO ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN SHORT WAVE INFRARED (SWIR) AVALANCHE.PHOTODIODES (APD) TO MEE…

Public award description

WE PROPOSE TO ADVANCE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN SHORT WAVE INFRARED (SWIR) AVALANCHE.PHOTODIODES (APD) TO MEET NASA'S NEEDS FOR ADVANCEMENTS IN STAR TRACKING TECHNOLOGY..IN THE PHASE I EFFORT, WE UNDERTOOK A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FIELD.PROGRAMMABLE SWIR DETECTORS USING A PIN-APDARCHITECTURE WITH ANTIMONIDE-BASED.SUPERLATTICE MATERIALS. THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATED THAT A PIN-APD ARCHITECTURE PROVIDES.SUPERIOR SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO (SNR) AT LOW BIAS VOLTAGE AND, WITH AN OPTIMIZED MATERIAL,.CAN ALSO PROVIDE THE BEST SNR AT HIGH BIAS VOLTAGE (WITH AVALANCHE GAIN). THE GOAL OF THE.PROPOSED PHASE II EFFORT IS TO ENGINEER THE PROCESS OF TURNING THESE MATERIALS INTO A FOCAL.PLANE ARRAY (FPA). THIS DEMONSTRATION WILL FABRICATE, PASSIVATE, AND HYBRIDIZE A SMALL.FORMAT ARRAY (~256X256) TO A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE APDREADOUT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT.(ROIC). THIS DEMONSTRATION IMAGER WILL VALIDATE AND SUPPORT NASA'S MISSION FOR.ADVANCING STAR TRACKING BY ENABLING DETECTION OF OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS SIGNALS.(1550 NM) AND IMAGING THE STARFIELD ACROSS THE NEAR INFRARED (NIR) AND SWIR.