A Long-Wave Infrared Focal Plane Array with Ultra-high Sensitivity and Large Field-of-View

The SBIR Phase I proposal aims to develop an ultra-sensitive long-wave infrared (LWIR) focal plane array (FPA) capable of working at thermal-electrically cooled temperature with a large field-of-view (FOV). LWIR FPA is of great importance in missile defense missions. Existing HgCdTe (MCT) and InSb FPAs are required to be operated at low temperature (77K). Other issues include non-uniformity and low sensitivity due to high noise levels. These issues limit their applications in future missile defense applications. The proposed research aims to develop a new-type of integrated LWIR FPA capable of working at thermalelectrically cooled temperature with ultra-high sensitivity. Successfully developing the proposed innovation is expected to provide an enabling technology for ultra-sensitive missile detection without the need of cryogenic systems, which significantly reduces payload and increases the reliability. The Phase I work will perform feasibility investigation by developing a preliminary 16x16 FPA working at 14ƒÝm. Bench-top demonstration of high-sensitive LWIR detecting will be performed. Device uniformity will be also characterized.