ON-FOCAL PLANE SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR ATMOSPHERIC MEASURMENTS

IRVINE SENSORS CORPORATION (ISC) HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED A PHASE I SBIR PROGRAM WHICH DEMONSTRATED THAT THE "Z" OR FOCAL PLANE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES THE ELECTRONICS REAL ESTATE REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT ON-FOCAL PLANE SIGNAL PROCESSING AND DATA REDUCTION CIRCUITRY FOR A VARIETY OF ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS. A BASELINE DESIGN WAS DEVELOPED INCLUDES A TRANSIMPEDANCE AMPLIFIER BANDPASS FILTER THRESH- OLD COMPARATOR AND EVENT-DRIVEN MULTIPLEXER FOR EACH DETEC- TOR PIXEL. THE PHASE I ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT ACHIEVING THE LEVEL OF CIRCUIT INTEGRATION REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE THE ORIGINAL PHASE I GOALS IS LOW RISK AND WITHIN STANDARD COM- MERCIAL RADIATION HARDENED FORUNDRY CAPABILITY. HOWEVER THE ANALYSIS ALSO SHOWS THAT PROVIDING LARGE AMOUNTS OF ELECTRONICS "REAL ESTATE" IS REQUIRED FOR THE APPLICATION ANALYZED. THE REMAINING TASK PRIOR TO SUCCESSFUL INSERTION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY INTO THE NASA SUITE OF MEASUREMENT INSTRUTHEREFORE IS THE DEMONSTRATION OF 128X128 PIXEL FOCAL PLANE MODULES. THE SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT REQUIRED TO REALIZE THE GOAL OF A 128X128 FPA MODULE LIES IN THE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC PROCESSING OF THE FACE OF THE MODULE TO WITHIN 0.001 OF THE CUBE EDGE. CURRENT ISC MODULE TECHNOLOGY HAS PROVEN AN FPA MODULE CON- TAINING 64X64 PIXELS, BUT HAS NOT REQUIRED THAT THE EXTREME EDGES OF THE MODULE BE PROCESSED. THERFORE, ISC WILL DEVELOP METHODS TO ELIMINATE THE EDGE PROCESSING EFFECTS IN THE PROPOSED PHASE II EFFORT, CULMINATING IN THE FABRICA-TION AND TEST OF A 128X128 PIXEL MODULE FABRICATED WITH ICS OF EXISTING DESIGN.