NEW APPROACHES TO LONG WAVELENGTH INFRARED IMAGING DEVICES

THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH PERFORMANCE GAAS/A1GAAS MULTIQUANTUM WELL (MGW) INFRARED DETECTOR ARRAY SUITABLE FOR OPERATION IN THE 8-12 MICRON SPECTRAL RANGE. EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON DETECTOR AND ARRAY FORMATS CONSISTENTWITH THE SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OF IR STARING ARRAY IMAGERS. IN THIS PHASE WE SHALL MODEL, DESIGN, AND FABRICATE BOTH PHOTOVOLTAICAND PHOTOCONDUCTIVE-TYPES OF DETECTORS WITH SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED RESPONSIVITY, SPECTRAL BANDWIDTH, DETECTIVITY, AND UNIFORMITY. ALSO, DETECTOR STRUCTURES WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH SPECIAL COLLECTOR AND/OR EMITTER BARRIER FEATURES WHICH FACILITATE OPTIMUM STORAGE OF IR SIGNALS. IN THESE EFFORTS WE SHALL DRAW UPON THE RESULTS OF OUR CURRENTLY ACTIVE SBIR CONTRACT PROGRAMS WHICH ARE DIRECTED TOWARD VARIOUS ASPECTS OF MQW IR TECHNOLOGY. A KEY ASPECT OF OUR PROGRAM WILL BE TO EXPLORE DETECTOR ANDARRAY DESIGNS WHICH PERMIT A PULSE ADDRESS AND RESET MODE OF OPERATION THROUGH THE INCORPORATION OF INTEGRATION/STORAGE FEATURES. THIS SHOULD NOT ONLY ENSURE HIGH PERFORMANCE STARING ARRAY OPERATION, BUT ALSOMAY ENDOW THE RESULTING FOCAL PLANE STRUCTURES WITH UNIQUE RADHARD PROPERTIES. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE QUANTUM WILL DETECTOR AND FOCAL PLANE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS DEVELOPED IN THIS PROGRAM ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON TECHNIQUES CURRENTLY BEING EXPLORED FOR MILITARY STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL IR SYSTEMS. POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL BENEFITS SHOULD INCLUDE IMPROVED GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SENSITIVITY AND RESOLUTION, ENHANCED MULTISPECTRAL TARGET IDENTIFICATION AND DISCRIMINATION, AND MARKED PERFORMANCE GAINS FOR GROUND, AIRBORNE, AND SPACE-BASED FLIR SYSTEMS. THESE CONSTITITE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR MARKET AREAS.