ADVANCED INTENSIFIED HIGH DENSITY CCD ARRAYS

IN A WIDE VARIETY OF MILITARY MISSIONS, THE DETECTION AND IMAGING OF EXTREMELY LOW LEVELS OF LIGHT IS NECESSARY. PRESENT DAY SYSTEMS INCORPORATE HIGH DENSITY CHARGE COUPLED DEVICES (CCD) WITH PIXEL SIZES AS SMALL AS 9 X 9 MICRONS. FOR EXAMPLE, THESE DETECTORS FORM THE HEART OF SOME LASER RANGING/TRACKING SYSTEMS AND ARE INVALUABLE BECAUSE OF THEIR SHORT RISE TIMES AND HIGH SENSITIVITY. HOWEVER, THE INCLUSION OF A LIGHT AMPLIFICATION STAGE BEFORE THE CCD CAN EXTEND THEIR LOW LEVEL RESPONSE RANGE SIGNIFICANTLY. A SUITABLE CHOICE IS THE MICROCHANNEL PLATE (MCP). HOWEVER, THE CONVENTIONAL OPTICAL FIBER BASED CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLATES CAN BE THE LIMITING FACTOR BECAUSE OF THE LARGE PORE SIZE AND COMPONENT SPACING IN TYPICAL INTENSIFIER ARCHITECTURE. ALTERNATE ARCHITECTURE AND INCORPORATION OF SMALL PORE MCPS AND FIBER INTERFACES CAN LEAD TO A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT. THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT WILL OPTIMIZE THE COUPLING OF AN MCP TO A CCD TO ACHIEVE HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND INCLUDE AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS TO MODEL THE INCREASE IN PERFORMANCE/COST RATIO EXPECTED FROM THIS COMPOUND SYSTEM. THIS STUDY WILL SERVE AS A FOUNDATION FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING OF THE DETECTOR SYSTEM IN PHASE II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPROVED DETECTOR SYSTEM BASED ON THE COMBINATION OF CCDS AND MCPS WILL HAVE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT IN A WIDE VARIETY OF RESEARCH AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. REMOTE SENSING, LOW LIGHT LEVEL IMAGE FORMATION AND SPECTROSCOPY ARE SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF DIRECT COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS. THE COMPOUND DETECTOR COULD BE MARKETED AS A SEPARATE UNIT OR BE INCORPORATED INTO VARIOUS OPTICAL SYSTEMS.