NASA'S SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE, NASA HEADQUARTERS, SELECTED PROPOSALS FOR THE 2008 ACT-08 PROGRAM (NASA…

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NASA'S SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE, NASA HEADQUARTERS, SELECTED PROPOSALS FOR THE 2008 ACT-08 PROGRAM (NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT NNH08ZDA001N-ACT DATED FEBRUARY 15, 2008) THROUGH THE EARTH SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY OFFICE AT NASAS GSFC. ACT-08 WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENT COMPONENTS AND SUBSYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES FOR EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS/MEASUREMENTS RECOMMENDED BY THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (NRC) DECADEL SURVEY. THE ACT PROGRAM BRINGS INSTRUMENT COMPONENTS TO A MATURITY LEVEL THAT ALLOWS THEIR INTEGRATION INTO OTHER NASA TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS. NASA'S GSFC PROPOSAL FOR ULTRA-SENSITIVE NEAR-INFRARED OPTICAL RECEIVER USING AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES WAS ONE OF THE 16 PROPOSALS SELECTED BY NASA HEADQUARTERS. THE PROPOSAL WAS BASED ON USE OF SPECTROLAB INC. AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES. AS A RESULT, NASA'S GSFC NEEDS TO CONTRACT WITH SPECTROLAB, INC. FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE LINEAR MODE INAIAS APD ARRAYS. NASA GSFC WILL PERFORM OPTICAL RECEIVER TESTING AND CHARACTERIZATION FOR DEVICE DESIGN AND PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE LINEAR MODE INAIAS APD ARRAYS WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT NASA'S ACT PROGRAM. THE ACT PROGRAM SUPPORTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTRUMENT COMPONENTS AND SUBSYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES FOR EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS/MEASUREMENTS RECOMMENDED BY THE NRC DECADAL SURVEY. THE LASER AND ELECTRO-OPTIC BRANCH (CODE 554) IS PERFORMING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF LIDAR INSTRUMENTS FOR FUTURE NASA MISSIONS INCLUDING ICESAT/GLAS II, AEROSAT, LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER IMAGING LIDAR, AND DYNAMIC SURFACE ELEVATION LIDAR. THE LASER AND ELECTRO-OPTIC BRANCH REQUIRES HIGH PERFORMANCE LINEAR MODE INALAS APD ARRAYS OPERATING AT 1.06 M. THE APD DETECTOR ARRAYS WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH TRANSIMPEDANCE AMPLIFIERS (TIAS) AND ASSEMBLED INTO RECEIVER ARRAYS. THE APD RECEIVER ARRAY SHALL MEET AND DEMONSTRATE THE FOLLOWING TECHNICAL GOALS: - WAVELENGTH: 1.06 M - NOISE-EQUIVALENT POWER: 300 FW/?HZ - BANDWIDTH: >1 GHZ - QUANTUM EFFICIENCY: >75% - K-EFFECTIVE: <0.15 - FILL FACTOR: >70% IN ORDER TO REACH THE TECHNICAL GOALS ESTABLISHED FOR THE APD ARRAY SENSITIVITY, APD WITH INALAS HETEROJUNCTIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS: A. A LOW EXCESS NOISE APD WITH AN IONIZATION COEFFICIENT KEFF<0.15, WITHOUT COMPROMISING DARK CURRENT AND BANDWIDTH, IS REQUIRED. TO MINIMIZE THE DARK CURRENT AND NOISE, AN INALGAAS QUATERNARY ABSORBER IS REQUIRED TO OPTIMIZE OPERATION AT 1.06 M WAVELENGTH. B. INALAS/INGAAS APDS HAVE MUCH BETTER TEMPERATURE INSENSITIVITY (THREE TIMES LOWER) THAN INP/INGAAS APDS C. INALAS ENABLES HIGH BANDWIDTH (1 GHZ) DEVICES D. INALAS PROVIDES LOW BIAS VOLTAGE (< 50 V) E. INALAS PROVIDES HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY (> 75%) BEGINNING WITH AN APD AND RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY AT TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL (TRL) 2, THREE YEARS OF TECHNICAL EFFORT ARE PLANNED. THE FIRST YEAR WILL DEMONSTRATE THE OPTIMIZED INDIVIDUAL APD DEVICES WITH LOW EXCESS NOISE AND HIGH USABLE GAIN. AT THE END OF THE SECOND YEAR, THE ARRAY AND THE INTEGRATION WITH A SINGLE TIA WILL BE DEMONSTRATED. AN INTEGRATED MICROLENS TECHNOLOGY WILL BE DEVELOPED IN THIS PHASE AS WELL. AT THE END OF THE PROGRAM, THE FULLY INTEGRATED RECEIVER ARRAY WILL BE ASSEMBLED FOR THE ACT PROGRAM, AND THE CORRESPONDING TECHNOLOGY WILL BE PROMOTED TO TRL 4.