SBIR-STTR Award

Current focal plane array technology remains more expensive than the budgeted acquisition costs for many DOD systems. Even though DOD has spent millions of dollars to improve HgCdTe manufacturing technologies, it is now obvious that the projected manufacturing costs will never be achieved due to the complexity of the process with its associated poor yields. The higher resolution formats (greater than 256 x 256) required for the next generation staring systems are difficult to achieve due to the immature nature of this material system. Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) based on the III-V material system have been demonstrated to be attractive alternatives to the HgCdTe devices. The greater maturity of the III-V materials allow larger diameter wafers (100-150 mm) with excellent uniformity which allows the cost effective realization of higher resolution FPAs. The QWIP cost is still limited by the current technology required to integrate them into the cooler/dewar assembly. The process involving the bonding of the FPA to the silicon multiplexer chip has poor yields due to the complexity of the process. This proposed effort will attempt to address this issue by combining the GaAs based QWIP FPA on the same chip with a GaAs based multiplexer.