VOLTAGE TUNABLE MULTI-SPECTRAL INFRARED SENSOR

SCHMIDT INSTRUMENTS PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A NOVEL TUNABLE PHOTODETECTOR BASED ON A DOUBLE BARRIER PHOTON ASSISTED RESONANT TUNNELING STRUCTURE. THE DEVICE CAN BE FABRICATED FROM A NUMBER OF SEMICONDUCTOR SYSTEMS DEPENDING ON THE DETECTOR CHARACTERISTICS ONE DESIRES. FOR EXAMPLE, A DETECTOR BASED ON THE GAAS/ALGAAS SYSTEM WOULD BE CAPABLE OF DETECTING PHOTONS WITH ENERGIES THROUGHOUT THE INFRARED SPECTRUM (2M-25M). THE TUNABILITY OF THIS DEVICE ENABLES MULTI-SPECTRAL RESPONSE BY TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING. FEASIBILITY OF A TWO-COLOR DETECTOR OPERATING IN THE 5M-15M WAVELENGTH RANGE FABRICATED FROM THE GAAS/ALGAAS MATERIALS SYSTEM WILL BE DEMONSTRATED IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM. THE DEVICE WILL BE OPTIMIZED IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE SECOND PHASE. A TWO-DIMENSIONAL, VOLTAGE TUNABLE TWO COLOR, SMALL ELEMENT ARRAY (64X64) DETECTOR CAPABLE OF OPERATION BETWEEEN 3M-15M WILL BE PRODUCED IN PHASE II.