Non-Avalanche Gain Detector for High-Resolution Single-Photon and Dual Mode Applications

Future seekers of the future will need to allow for multiple targets and various advanced countermeasures, likely including a dual-mode component to do so. A Dual Mode Seeker (DMS) has at least an infrared (IR) Focal Plane Array (FPA) as well as an active means to capture target range and preferably 3-D imagery. Future technology insertion will benefit from a monolithic dual mode focal plane, wherein the optics, cryogenics, and electronics between both LADAR and passive infrared imaging are shared. The combination of the passive IR FPA image data and active range (LADAR) image will require 256 × 256 and larger array size, with low power consumption. In this Phase I SBIR project, Voxtel proposes to address the technology need by developing the design of a non-avalanche linear-mode InGaAs photodiode detector array, with GHz count rate, single photon counting operation, sensitivity from 950 to 1700 nm, and the capability for gain exceeding 106 at bias voltages of only 1 VDC, with sub-Poissonian shot noise performance. We will fabricate the detector using lattice-matched materials on InP, and will integrate the design with a segmented 8 × 8 element detector, fabricated using Voxtel’s existing process for back-illuminated mesa-diodes with integrated microlenses.