Infrared Focal Plane Design, with On-Focal Plane

INFRARED FOCAL PLANE ARRAY (IRFPA) AND ELECTRO-OPTICAL (EO) SYSTEMS ARE CRITICAL COMPONENTS NEEDED FOR MANY TACTICAL SYSTEM APPLICATIONS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOST ON-FOCAL PLANE PROCESSING IS STILL IN THE ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT STAGE AND REQUIRES ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING TO YIELD PRODUCIBLE IRFPA/EO SYSTEMS. CONCURRENT DESIGN (CD) METHODS AND TOOLS HOLD GREAT POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVED PRODUCIBILITY, REDUCED CYCLE TIME, AND COST. MUCH OF THE CD METHODS HAVE NOT BEEN APPLIED TO IRFPA/EO DEVELOPMENT PROCESS DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF THE INTER-PROCESS MODEL AND SIMULATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO IDENTIFY AND DESIGN A SET OF ANALYTICAL AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED MODELS AND SIMULATIONS THAT IS KEY TO THE CD OF A GENERIC FAMILY OF IRFPA/EO SYSTEMS. THE IRFPA/EO DEVELOPER WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO DETERMINE (A) THE PRODUCIBILITY OBSTACLES IMPOSED BY MATERIAL AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND (B) THE WAYS TO ADJUST SYSTEM DESIGN AND PRODUCTION TO BE CONSISTENT WITH CRITICAL IRFPA/EO TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.