Advanced Passive and Active Sensors for Discrimination Seekers

Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) is developing a next generation, high-performance large-format HgCdTe FPAs for dual-band LWIR detection for the MKV Program. Increasing the format size of dual-band long-wavelength FPAs and tailoring the detector design for specific long-wavelength bands enables seekers to be designed for larger fields-of-view, longer target acquisition ranges, and improved accuracy. Presently, there are no commercial analog-to-digital-converters (ADCs) that support space and military FPA applications. In the proposed program Nu-Trek and OSU will develop an ultra-low-power buffered, successive approximation register (SAR) ADC to be used with the MKV-L FPA. The digital-like nature of SAR ADCs promises to offer greater radiation hardness and easier integration into cryogenic applications compared to pipelined ADCs. The proposed ADC has a revolutionary architecture that combines the ultra-low power consumption available only with SAR ADCs with buffering, speed, and resolution that are obtained with pipeline ADCs. A single ADC channel will consume ~ 4 mW @ 15 MHz & 14 bit resolution. This is < 1/10 the power consumption of commercially available ADCs with similar resolution and speed. The proposed ADC will be rad-hard, operate at cryogenic temperatures, and will be offered in Single Channel, Quad, and Octal configurations. RVS will provide detailed requirements.