Award Data

In this program, Voxtel will demonstrate SOI-CMOS imagers for high-performance star tracking applications. Fabricating CMOS imagers on SOI wafers, allows the device and detector layers to be separated with an insulating layer, so each can be individually optimized and operated with separate ground returns. High QE and high MTF come from backside illumination and depleting the entire volume of dete ...

A highly reliable InAlAs/InGaAs avalanche photodiode (APD) focal plane array (FPA) will be developed to replace the electron-bombarded charge-coupled device (EBCCD) camera presently used for Airborne Laser (ABL) wavefront sensing applications. Based on technology with a nominal lifetime of 105 hours of continuous operation, Voxtel’s monolithic solid-state architecture is both more manufacturable ...

As the BMDS evolves over the next decade, the community will be exposed to a substantially greater amount of data from successful intercepts in all phases of the tiered defense, including boost, mid-course and terminal. In order to perform the necessary battle management, command and control functions a net of sensors using both active RF sensors supporting the fire control, guidance and navigati ...

The objective of the proposed effort is to develop and deliver a real-time physics-based simulation capability for predicting threat plume signatures from launch to burnout. SciTec's approach is to address the dominant phenomenology in each altitude regime (e.g. data derived mixing of free stream air to enable complete combustion in the fully afterburning regime) and develop fast plume signature ...

Multi-axis fiber grating strain sensors may be used to localize and qualitatively identify the degree of damage in composite parts. Signatures associated with delaminations and damage tow material are significantly different for strain imaging produced data. This Phase I project is directed toward improving the quantitative measurement capability of "strain imaging" methods through experiments, ...

Missile defense battle management is an inherently distributed process, involving sensors, weapons, and targets that are distributed over a region spanning thousands of miles. While most agents need some sense of "distant events", they neither need nor can afford detailed, high-fidelity models of the entire situation. CleverSet's approach to distributed battle management is based in variable reso ...

Birefringence microscopy provides a necessary tool for the next generation electro-optic components. This effort builds on the great success of the Phase I effort that demostrated a benchtop system that could measure birefringent samples with high spatial resolution (~1mm) and high accuracy (0.1m). From this basis we will develop an engineering prototype that meets the needs of industry and the mi ...

In this program, we propose to develop high-performance long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) photodetectors based on InAs/In(x)Ga(1-x)Sb Type II superlattice structures. The use of bandgap engineering approaches to control quantum confinement and strain effects allows for wide tunability of the superlattice bandgap, making these structures ideal for LWIR detection in the 8 to 12 um wavelength range. ...

The inability of current plume signature codes to accurately predict the altitude in the afterburning region at which the peak signature occurs and the rate of signature decay with altitude ("afterburning shutdown") is the subject of this solicitation. A more accurate description of afterburning plume chemistry is needed, particularly for hydrocsrbon-fueled systems. The issue is that either the ch ...

The impact of liquid fueled missile, thermal management systems on plume signatures, is of critical importance to accurate plume signature modeling. This proposal describes the innovative coupling of an engineering level thermal design tool, VITMAC (Vehicle Integrated Thermal Management Analysis Code) with a Quasi 3-D enhanced Standardized Plume Flowfield Model, SPF-IIIQ3D. In addition, we will ...