NASA 1996 SBIR Phase I

PROJECT TITLE : ROOM TEMPERATURE, INFRARED IMAGING ARRAY

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)

Silicon is by far the most mature semiconductor material and is the basis for most optoelectronic technologies. Silicon detectors offer significant advantages in sensitivity, device processing, and cost over detectors made from other materials. Unfortunately, silicon is inherently insensitive to infrared (IR) light. Recently, a hybrid device consisting of a layer of IR-sensitive InGaAs fused to a silicon photodetector was tested. The effort proposed here will investigate the hybrid avalanche photodiode/InGaAs concept by fusing InGaAs to low noise, high sensitivity APDs for low-light level IR detection. In Phase II the technology will be extended to the fabrication of multi-element arrays for near IR imaging. This device potentially solves the problem of insensitivity of silicon detectors to near IR while still exploiting the advantages of silicon technology. Such a device will benefit many fields of interest to NASA including astronomy, astrophysics, atmospheric science, geology, and planetology.

This device will have applications in many fields where room temperature, high resolution IR imaging detectors are used. These areas include fiberoptic communications, atmospheric research, near-IR spectroscopy and LADAR, night vision, tracking, and eye-safe surveillance. Medical applications include near IR-spectroscopy and fluorescence imaging of molecules.

Gerald Entine, Ph.D.
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.
44 Hunt Street
Watertown, MA 02172

Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.
44 Hunt Street
Watertown, MA 02172