Award Data

CU Aerospace (CUA) and team partners San Jose St. University (SJSU) and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) propose to develop a robust epoxy resin regenerator capable of improving cryocooler efficiency by more than 30%, and to design an enhanced compressor motor capable of improving the cryocooler efficiency by more than 20%. LMSSC manufactures a space cryocooler that already meets most ...

Future MDA space missions will utilize small spacecraft with correspondingly small, advanced sensor systems. Cooling of these sensors is required to decrease detector noise and increase detector sensitivity by maintaining the detector at a reduced operating temperature. The cooling system comprises a mechanical cryocooler and its control electronics, both of which are critical technologies to enab ...

The primary objective of CU Aerospace’s Phase I work will be to investigate a relatively new, highly innovative high pressure singlet-delta oxygen generator (SOG) concept for the chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL). Estimates are that this SOG concept will significantly improve the pressure recovery of COIL systems while retaining efficiency. The results of the Phase I research will lay the fo ...

High sensitivity HgCdTe infrared detector arrays operating at 77K can be tailored for response across the infrared spectrum and are commonly utilized for infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs). However, the cooling systems required to achieve the desired sensitivity makes them heavy and therefore unsuitable for many applications. Infrared arrays operating above ~200K could be thermoelectrically-cooled ...

High performance infrared detectors in the very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) spectral bands are highly needed in a number of missile defense missions. The current state-of-the-art infrared detection technology for missile defense programs is based on the Mercury Cadmium Telluride (HgCdTe) compounds. However, at present it is becoming increasingly apparent that this detection technology is ap ...

Future missile detection systems will require improved thermal management for cooling gimbal-mounted sensors and optics. Current systems utilize cryocoolers placed on the gimbal, which necessitates the cryocooler heat to be rejected directly from the gimbal. A far superior approach in terms of payload mass would locate the warm elements of the cryocooler on the stationary platform near the space ...

Missile seekers would benefit from a focal plane array (FPA) that allowed high-speed single or multiple-windowing acquisition of the target or targets while maintaining situational awareness of the rest of the field of view. Such data reduction helps where bandwidth is limited, e.g. arrays with formats larger than 1Kx1K, allowing tracking of high-speed missiles at high frame rates. Readout multi ...

We propose to develop a 2Kx2K 2-Color focal plane array (FPA) that provides pixel-registered and simultaneous imaging in two MIDWAVE infrared spectral bands. We will use a novel bandgap-engineered sensor that minimizes spectral crosstalk between the two midwave bands better than current sensor technologies. The FPA also uses a readout multiplexer that provides massive on-chip data compression by ...

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A TOTALLY INTEGRATED MONOLITHIC GaAs/HgCdTe FPAs ON GaAs SUBSTRATED. THE INNOVATIVE FEATURES ARE: 1. THE DETECTOR IS FABRICATED DIRECTLY ON THE GaAs MULTIPLEXER SUBSTRATE, WITH THE MONOLITHIC METAL INTERCONNECT INSTEAD OF STANDARD INDIUM BUMPS ALLOWING ARRAY SIZES UP TO 1024x1024 WITH HIGH FRAME RATES. 2. THE FOCAL PLANES WILL INCORPORATE AN ON-CHIP LOW POWER MASSIVELY PARALL ...

MANY OF THE COMMERCIAL SENSORS IN USE (OR UNDER DEVELOPMENT) ARE BASED IN METAL-OXIDE CERAMIC MATERIALS. METAL-OXIDES OFFER SPECIAL ADVANTAGES BECAUSE OF THEIR CHEMICAL AND THERMAL STABILITY, FAST RESPONSE TIMES, AND SENSITIVITY TO ELECTROCHEMICAL CHANGES. THERE ARE REPORTED CASES THAT SHOW ADSORPTION OF WATER IN METAL OXIDES OFTEN ENHANCING BOTH THE SURFACE CONDUCTIVITY AND DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES ...