High Altitude Non-Acoustic Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW)

Intevac proposes to develop an Intensified Photodiode (IPD) which can be gated on and off very quickly with relatively low voltage. This gated IPD would be an ideal detector for laser pulse reflections from ship or airborne lasers used for probing for objects in sea water. Gating the detector on for only the time periods when reflections could be received from possible objects of interest greatly extends detector lifetime and reduces noise, thus increasing object detectability. Intevac produces an IPD which, as presently designed, cannot be easily gated. We propose to investigate design of an IPD to permit high speed, low voltage gating and extend lifetimes. Phase 1 is a design study of a technical approach which could be successful with minimum additional tube complexity and cost. A Phase 1 Option is the exploration of a grid structure in the IPD if the initial investigation concludes that it is necessary or desirable.