ADVANCED COMPONENTS FOR SPACEBORNE INFRARED ASTRONOMY

INNOVATIONS IN THREE RELATED AREAS ARE EXPLORED WITH THE GOAL OF ADVANCING THE CAPABILITIES OF SPACEBORNE INFRARED ASTRONOMY. FIRST, IMPROVED MATERIALS, PARTICULARLY DOPED GERMANIUM, ARE STUDIED TO PROVIDE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE FOR LONG WAVELENGTH DETECTORS (30-120 MICRONS). THE SECOND PART OF THIS PROJECT INVOLVES NEW ELECTRONICS FOR LOW TEMPERATURE OPERATION, INCLUDING CHARGE-INTEGRATION AMPLIFIERS UTILIZING JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS (JFETS), METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FETS FOR SWITCHING AND RESET APPLICATIONS, AND MODIFIED COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MULTIPLEXERS FOR COUPLING LARGE NUMBERS OF COOLED DETECTORS TO A DATA SYSTEM AT NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE FEASIBILITY OF TRUE CRYOGENIC JFETS CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT TEMPERATURESBELOW 60K IS EXAMINED. FINALLY CRYOGENIC ACTUATORS AND MOTORS (LORENTZ-FORCE-LINEAR, SUPERCONDUCTING ROTARY, AND STEPPER TYPES) WITH VIRTUALLY NO POWER DISSIPATION ARE INVESTIGATED AND A MODEL BUILT TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR BASIC PROPERTIES.