4.7 THz Receivers for Heliophysics

This proposal is responsive to NASA SBIR topic S14.03 Remote Sensing Instrument Technologies for Heliophysics; specifically, the last bullet item related to ldquo;Technologies for precise radiometry at terahertz bandshellip;, particularly at 4.7 THz.rdquo; Through this proposed SBIR effort, VDI will develop the technology to realize an all-solid-state heterodyne receiver at 4.7 THz with suitable frequency resolution, sensitivity, and SWaP for Heliophysics applications in low Earth orbit on SmallSat and CubeSat platforms. The Phase I work is a combined simulation/experiment design study to prove the feasibility of the technology to achieve the SBIR topic requirements and generate the exact plan to achieve these requirements through Phase II. The receiver will be based on a Schottky diode mixer with a local oscillator (LO) source based on high frequency power amplifiers and a chain of frequency multipliers. By the conclusion of the Phase II effort, a prototype receiver system will have been developed and characterized in a laboratory environment (TRL 4) and delivered to NASA for use as a prototype or engineering model (EM) for future Heliophysics missions. This prototype will also be designed to be suitable for space-qualification and will become the basis for a commercial line of receivers for SmallSat and CubeSat applications across the 1 ndash; 5 THz range.