CHARGE-TO-PHOTON TRANSDUCERS FOR DETECTORS FOR THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER

PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT CHARGE-TO-PHOTON TRANSDUCERS FOR USE WITH SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER (SSC) DETECTORS. THE PROJECT'S GOAL IS TO ANALYZE AND DEMONSTRATE INTEGRATED OPTIC MODULATOR ARRAYS AND PACKAGING THAT CAN BE SCALED TO AMILLION OR MORE ELEMENTS IN THE FUTURE. THE PROJECT'S PRIMARY FOCUS IS TO STUDY THE DESIGN OF ARCHITECTURES AND ELECTRICAL/OPTICAL CONNECTIONS TO MILLIONS OF ELEMENTS IN A COST- AND SIZE-EFFECTIVE MANNER. INTEGRATED OPTIC ELECTRO-OPTIC MODULATORS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEEN USED AS VOLTAGE-TO-PHOTON TRANSDUCERS IN THE DOE NUCLEAR TEST PROGRAM. HOWEVER, THESE MODULATORS HAVE ONLY EMPLOYED SMALLNUMBERS OF DISCRETE DEVICES. NEVERTHELESS, THE DEVICES DO WORK WELL AS VOLTAGE-TO-PHOTON TRANSDUCERS. THE CHALLENGE IN THE SSC APPLICATION IS TO DEVELOP WAYS OF SCALING THESE DEVICES TO EXTREMELY LARGE ARRAYS AT A LOW COST-PER-ELEMENT WITHOUT REDUCING THE ARRAY'S PERFORMANCE. THIS APPROACH UTILIZES THE LARGE INVESTMENTS MADE IN INTEGRATED OPTIC DEVICE TECHNOLOGY BY THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRIES, THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, AND DOE AND WILL ENABLE A TRACTABLE SOLUTION TO THE SCALING PROBLEM POSED BY THE SSC APPLICATION.