Large Format Space Focal Plane Array Technologies

Nu-Trek and BAE Systems are teaming to develop a rad-hard readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for use in conjunction with IR, LWIR, and VLWIR detectors. This work is in anticipation to future upgrades to the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) focal plane array (FPA). The proposed work leverages off of previous Nu-Trek work in which an ultra low power analog to digital converter (ADC) for on-chip data conversion was designed (1-2 mW per ADC core). As it takes 40 mW of cooling power to remove the heat produced by the dissipation of 1 mW of electrical power in the dewar, achieving low power dissipation enables broader implementation of on-chip data conversion. In the proposal we will expand on our previous work in the following manner: (1) LVDS pre-driver and LVDS line driver will be designed. The use of the LVDS pre-driver in the dewar represents a power savings of 4.4 mW/driver. (2) Reduce the lowest operational temperature from 68 K to 30 K. (3) Increase the effective number of bits (ENOB) from 12 to 14. (4) Significantly increase the radiation hardness to meet STSS requirements.