Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2022)
Recipient: DRS NETWORK & IMAGING SYSTEMS LLC
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2012-03-29 to 2015-04-27
Current total value of award: $894520.72
Description: THIS CONTRACT IS FOR (R&D) PHYSICAL SCIENCES-ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT. DEVELOPMENT OF HGCDTE LINEAR MODE PHOTON COUNTING AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE AARRAY ASSEMBLY FOR INFRARED LIDARS NASA GSFC IS DEVELOPING A MULTI-BEAM SWATH MAPPING LASER ALTIMETER FOR THE LIDAR SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY (LIST) MISSION RECOMMENDED IN THE NRC EARTH SCIENCE DECADAL SURVEY. ONE OF THE KEY COMPONENT IN THE LIST MISSION IS THE NEAR INFRARED PHOTODETECTOR ARRAY THAT CAN DETECT SINGLE TO MULTIPLE PHOTON LASER PULSES. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A NEW TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AT DRS TECHNOLOGIES, RECONNAISSANCE, SURVEILLANCE AND TARGET ACQUISITION (RSTA), THAT PROMISE TO MEET THE LIST LIDAR REQUIREMENTS. OUR JOINT PROPOSAL, TITLED `HGCDTE INFRARED AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE SINGLE PHOTON DETECTOR ARRAYS FOR THE LIST AND OTHER DECADAL MISSIONS, TO NASA NRA NNH10ZDA001N, ROSES-2010, PROGRAM ELEMENT A.36, ADVANCED COMPONENT TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM (ACT), HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR FUNDING STARTING JANUARY 2012. ONE MAJOR ELEMENT OF THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES IS TO PARTNER WITH DRS TO DEVELOP AN LINEAR MODE SINGLE PHOTON HGCDTE AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE INFRARED DETECTOR ASSEMBLY. THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF INTEGRATED HIGH BANDWIDTH AND LOW NOISE PREAMPLIFIER ARRAY WITH THE PHOTODIODE ARRAY ON THE SAME SUBSTRATE AND A COOLING SYSTEM WITH OPTICAL WINDOWS FOR A LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION. THE DETECTOR SYSTEM WHICH USES DRS COMPANY PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSES IS EXPECTED TO SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL FOR LIST MISSION, IMPROVE THE MEASUREMENT PERFORMANCE, AND ENABLE A LONG OPERATION LIFETIME IN SPACE. THE TECHNOLOGY CAN ALSO BENEFIT OTHER NASA LIDAR AND PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING MISSIONS THAT NEED NEAR INFRARED PHOTON FOCAL PLAN ARRAY DETECTORS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS ACQUISITION IS FOR DRS RSTA TO DEVELOP A CUSTOM LINEAR MODE PHOTON COUNTING HGCDTE ELECTRON-AVALANCHE PHOTODIODE (E-APD) SYSTEM WITH AN INTEGRATED HIGH SPEED AND LOW NOISE PREAMPLIFIER FOR OPERATION AT 1 TO 4 UM AND COUPLING OPTICS FOR A LABORATORY DEMONSTRATION WITH OUR EXISTING SWATH MAPPING INSTRUMENT. THE PREAMPLIFIER(S) IS TO HAVE A BANDWIDTH GREATER THAN THE INTRINSIC BANDWIDTH OF THE APDS AND SUFFICIENT TO RESOLVE SINGLE PHOTON EVENT. THE TOTAL NOISE INTEGRATED OVER THE BANDWIDTH MUST BE LOWER THAN THE APD PHOTOCURRENT PULSE FROM A SINGLE PHOTON EVENT. THE HGCDTE E-APD SYSTEM IS TO INCLUDE A PORTABLE AND LONG HOLD LIQUID NITROGEN DEWAR AND THE SUPPORTING ELECTRONICS.  FABRICATION OF THE CMOS READ OUT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (ROIC) FOR THE HGCDTE APD SYSTEM. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS 2X8 ROIC DESIGN AND TEST DATA, ROIC PERFORMANCE MODEL UPDATE  SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE ROIC DESIGN AND PREDICTED PERFORMANCE,  DEWAR SYSTEM DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, DEWAR DESIGN MODIFICATION,  DEWAR DESIGN MODIFICATION PER PREVIOUS TEST DATA, SELECTION OF THE CHIP CARRIER PACKAGE AND HOLDER, DEWAR ACQUISITION AND TESTS, RECEIVE AND INSTALL THE COLD FILTERS, INTEGRATE ELECTRONICS AND DEWAR, PHOTON COUNTING FOCAL PLANE ARRAY (FPA) PROCESSING, LOT 1 FABRICATION AND TESTS, FPA FABRICATION, FPA FAN-OUT APD TESTING, LOT 2 FABRICATION AND TESTS, FPA FABRICATION, FPA FAN-OUT APD TESTING, LINEAR MODE PHOTON COUNTING (LMPC) SYSTEM TESTS, INTERIM TEST, MOUNT SELECTED DEVICES TO THE CHIP.