High Operating Temperature (HOT) SWIR/MWIR Dual-band 2-channel and Broadband Detectors for Weapon Targeting and IR Seekers

A dual-band, SWIR/MWIR sensor provides numerous and distinct advantages over single-band sensors, when used in weapon sights and for IR seekers, including improved contrast and the ability to leverage infrared and radiometric phenomenology in different wavebands to better identify targets. The development of dual-band SWIR/MWIR sensors requires advancements in detector materials as well as the ROIC technology required to optimally operate such a sensor. Advancements in the state-of-the-art of dual-band SWIR/MWIR sensor technology has direct applications to the Navy’s Integrated Clip-on Advanced Targeting Sight (ICATS) program, the Army’s Multi-Domain User Sensor Architecture (MDUSA) program, threat warning systems, IR seeker technologies, and multi-spectral imaging for civilian (precision agriculture, gas sensing, etc.) and military (chemical agent detection, drug manufacturing, camouflage defeat, etc.). In this proposal we describe our approach to developing a high-sensitivity, low-noise, SWIR/MWIR dual-band sensor operating at temperatures greater than 120 K. This Phase II SBIR proposal describes a work plan that picks up from a Phase I SBIR that laid the foundation for developing high sensitivity SWIR and MWIR focal plane arrays working at high operating temperatures.