Award Data

Metallic additive manufacturing (AM) is an attractive technology for the production of lethality test articles due to the potential for significantly reduced lead time and manufacturing cost.However, in order to be effective in providing accurate lethality data, the properties of the AM material have to match closely the properties of conventionally manufactured alloys found in real threat targets ...

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 proposed project aims to pursue an innovative approach of utilizing deep learning algorithms to improve the performance of state-of-the-art MEMS Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) to push their performance to fullest extent possible as replacements for existing Fiber Optic Gyroscopes (FOG) systems for navigation and guidance in future missile system avionics including Sounding Rockets. During P ...

Magnesium alloys have 35% lower density compared to aluminum, with improved temperature stability compared to high strength aluminum.They can also be fabricated with minimum gauge thicknesses considerably thinner than fiber composites, and are weldable, with much higher impact resistance.Traditional magnesium alloys, however, have had lower strengths than more developed aluminum alloys.Powder meta ...

Optonicus proposes development of the TAP-LAM (Test Article Printing with Laser Additive Manufacturing for Threat Surrogate Target Production) powder bed fusion and directed energy depositions systems. The TAP-LAM metal additive manufacturing system will advance strategic missile defense system testing capabilities by improving 3D printing methods to rapidly produce large-scale threat surrogate ta ...

Under this STTR Imaging Systems Technology (IST) will apply novel Plasma-shell technology and expertise with gas plasma systems to shield and protect BMDS Radar. Plasma-shells are tiny hollow gas encapsulating shells. When energy is applied across the shell, the gas inside ionizes into a plasma. Theory of plasma-electromagnetic (EM) field interaction shows that, under appropriate conditions, pl ...

Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) has been described as one of the most technologically significant semiconductor materials and is the most widely used material for long wave infrared (LWIR) imaging. The current challenge is to produce MCT over large focal plane array size at low cost and high reliability without compromising sensitivity or noise performance. MCT on silicon substrates is highly attr ...

Today"s Ballistic Missile Defense networks consist of many different types of sensors and platforms, and given the expanded focus of MDA on theater and regional missile defense where multiple"raids"can be launched from different sites toward numerous targets, it is crucial that they can be dynamically tasked and deployed effectively in real-time to realize their full potential in achieving overall ...

We propose to develop a large-format 1Kx1K longwave infrared focal plane array (FPA) from Type-II InAs/(In)GaSb strained layer superlattice (SLS) photodiodes. In Phase I, we will develop small pixels with the goals of ~ 10 micron cutoff wavelength, quantum efficiency>60%, and dark current density

We propose to bandgap engineer the InAs/GaSb/AlSb material system to realize a dualband focal plane array (FPA) made up of stacked multi-barrier Type-II strained layer superlattice (SLS) photodiodes. Two longwave infrared spectral bands will be imaged in alternate frames by using a readout multiplexer that flips the voltage bias across the FPA from frame to frame. In Phase I, we will develop and ...