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High Sensitivity, Radiation Hard InGaAs LIDAR Receiver for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

Award Information
Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Branch: N/A
Contract: NNX11CI17P
Agency Tracking Number: 100110
Amount: $100,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: T4.01
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2010
Award Year: 2011
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2011-02-24
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2012-02-18
Small Business Information
15985 NW Schendel Avenue Suite 200
Beaverton, OR 97006-6703
United States
DUNS: 124348652
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Andrew Huntington
 Principal Investigator
 (971) 223-5646
 andrewh@voxtel-inc.com
Business Contact
 Debra Ozuna
Title: Business Official
Phone: (971) 223-5646
Email: debrao@voxtel-inc.com
Research Institution
 Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation
 Paul Hart
 
925 Dalney Street
Atlanta, GA 30332-0001
United States

 () -
 Domestic Nonprofit Research Organization
Abstract

NASA has a requirement for a large-area, high-quantum-efficiency, high-throughput optical receiver for ground-, air-, and space-based LIDAR systems. A radiation-hardened direct detection analog LIDAR receiver will be developed to address this need in the proposed STTR program. The rad-hard LIDAR receiver will be based upon a high gain (M > 1000), low excess noise (k ~ 0.02) InGaAs APD technology with high quantum efficiency (>80%) between 1000-1600 nm, deployed in a 61-element segmented array with a 600-um-diameter aggregate sensitive area. Segmentation of the detector area will minimize pixel capacitance, reducing amplifier noise and enabling GHz-class bandwidth. In Phase I, the proposed hexagonal APD array will be fabricated and hybridized to a custom fanout board for operation with discrete amplifiers. In the Phase II effort, a custom low-noise readout integrated circuit will be developed to mate directly to the hexagonal array, enabling higher sensitivity and higher bandwidth due to reduced interconnect parasitics. At the end of Phase II, the APD receiver will be integrated into a LIDAR test bed by the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at Georgia Tech for evaluation in a 6-month measurement campaign.Voxtel anticipates that its technology will enter the program at TRL=4, finish Phase I at TRL=5, and exit the Phase II program at TRL=7.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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