A UNIVERSAL MULTIPLEXER READOUT FOR AUTOMATED TESTING OF INFRARED FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS

AS PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT FOR AUTOMATED TESTING OF INFRARED FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS (IRFPA), WE PROPOSE TO DESIGN AND BUILD A UNIVERSAL SILICON MULTIPLEXER FOR READOUT OF HYBRID IRFPA'S WHICH HAVE HIGH DARK CURRENT. THE UNIT WOULD OPERATE WITH ALL DETECTOR MATERIALS (E.G. SI, INGAAS, HGCDTE, INSB, MULTIPLE QUANTUM WELLS) AND WOULD BE FAR SUPERIOR (IN TERMS OF PIXEL NOISE AND CHARGE CAPACITY) TO ANYTHING NOW AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY. THE INNOVATION CONSISTS OF APPLYING NOVEL CMOS TECHNOLOGY TOGETHER WITH RECENT DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS TO MAKE A DETECTOR MULTIPLEXER THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO THE ENTIRE SCIENTIFIC AND DEFENSE COMMUNITY. IN PHASE I, WE WOULD DEVELOP A DEMONSTRATION TEST STATION AND SURVEY DOD'S NEEDS AND DESIGN SEVERAL VERSIONS OF THE MULTIPLEXER. IN PHASE II, WE WOULD HAVE THE MULTIPLEXERS FABRICATED AT A FOUNDRY IN BOTH ONE- AND TWO- DIMENSIONAL FORMS, BONDED TO INGAAS AND HGCDTE FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS AND TESTED FOR READOUT QUALITY. DR. WILLIAM KLEINHANS (VALLEY OAK SEMICONDUCTOR) AND PROF. WALTER KOSONOCKY (NJIT) WILL CONSULT. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - COMMERCIAL HYBRID MULTIPLEXERS FOR INFRARED FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS HAVE VERY LIMITED AVAILABILITY AND DO NOT HAVE STATE-OF-THE-ART PERFORMANCE. THIS PROGRAM WOULD DEVELOP A UNIVERSAL MUX WHICH WOULD ALLOW AUTOMATED TESTING OF VARIOUS IRFPA'S WITH A SINGLE TEST STATION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY IN GENERAL AND DOD IN PARTICULAR, AND OPEN UP IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN INFRARED APPLICATIONS SUCH AS NIR SPECTROSCOPY, PROCESS CONTROL, REMOTE SENSING AND ATMOSPHERIC MONITORING.