Silicon Receiver for Millimeter Wave Distributed Aperture Imager with Optical Upconversion

In this Phase II SBIR effort we will dramatically reduce the size, weight, and power requirements of a passive millimeter wave imaging system based on optical upconversion. To this end, we will integrate custom silicon-germanium low noise amplifiers that have been designed to efficiently couple with our high performance lithium niobate upconversion modules. In Phase I we analyzed the design requirements and designed suitable silicon-germanium receiver ICs. In the four month Phase I Option period, we will fabricate the integrated circuits and design and build test substrates. In the first year of Phase II we will test the designs by leveraging our in house millimeter wave imaging system optical processors and high speed electro-optic phase modulators that have demonstrated record broad band (DC to >220 GHz) performance. We will also look to optimize the design and performance of the circuitry based on our measured results. The development of this chip leverages recent progress in SiGe HBT high speed analog circuit design and integrates it monolithically with emerging photonic technology. In the second year of the Phase II contract we will build a 30 channel distributed aperture imager capable of real time video rate imagery using our state-of-the-art modulator technology and optical processors.