Fault Tolerant Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) Detector

RNET Technologies and L3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics (L-3 CE) are responding to the Air Force SBIR topic"AF103-144: Fault Tolerant Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) Detector". It is well recognized that operational optical sensor systems are susceptible to unfriendly laser sources that can seriously damage or even render a FPA useless through heating and ionization. The Air Force is interested in new laser hardening methods to bring another layer of protection beyond the standard materials-based solution for the detector array. More recently, the focus has been on readout integrated circuit (ROIC). Our Collaborator, L-3 CE has demonstrated some advanced techniques to laser harden the ROIC, including current limiters at the column level, circuit redundancy, and the addition of top metal layers. As a result, they have been able to fabricate FPAs that are immune to laser kill. However, there are certain areas where improvements can be made and this proposal describes solutions to address these problems. In Phase I, we will perform schematic designs of the required circuits, conduct simulations, and verify performance. Physical layouts of the verified circuits will be conducted and fabricated using a mature process with cryogenic models, resulting in a small format ROIC. BENEFIT: The technology developed in this SBIR is intended for DoD applications. L3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics (L-3 CE), a DoD Prime Contractor, are the users of this technology and hence we will transition this technology to them.