ADAPTIVE FLC/VLSI OPTICAL FOCAL PLANE PROCESSOR

THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO DEVELOP OPTOELECTRONIC IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICES THAT INTEGRATE PHOTODETECTORS AND LIGHT MODULATORS INTO LARGE ARRAYS OF "SMART" PIXELS. THESE DEVICES EXPLOIT A HYBRID OPTOELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY THAT PLACES FAST FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL (FLC) LIGHT MODULATORS DIRECTLY ATOP VERSATILE SILICON VLSI CIRCUITRY. THE DEVICES NOW PROPOSED WILL INCORPORATE MULTIPLE PHOTODETECTORS IN EACH PIXEL, TO GIVE AN ADAPTIVE DEVICE ACCEPTING SIMULTANEOUS INPUT OF DATA AND CONTROL SIGNALS. SIMULTANEOUS ADDRESSING OF THE MULTIPLE PHOTODETECTORS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY INTEGRATING THE DEVICE WITH A MATCHED MICROLENS ARRAY THAT WILL DIRECT OPTICAL INPUTS FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS ONTO THE VARIOUS DETECTORS WITHIN EACH PIXEL. THESE LENSLET ARRAYS ADDITIONALLY IMPROVE DETECTOR FILL FACTOR AND MODULATOR PHASE UNIFORMITY. PHASE I WILL EXPLORE DEVICE DESIGNS WITH INTER-AND INTRA-CELL PROCESSING, CULMINATING IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 16 X 16 PROTOTYPE WITH SEPARATE LENS ARRAY. PHASE II DEVICES WILL INTEGRATE THE LENSLETS WITH 256 X 256 PIXEL ARRAYS.