{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":93753,"title":"SiC 10um-Pitch UV Imaging Array and APD with Active Pixel Readout","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10752,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10751,"level":3,"code":"TX08.3.1","title":"Field and Particle Detectors","definition":"Field detectors include millimeter wave through X-ray sensors, magnetic and electric field sensors, gravity-wave sensors, magnetometers, and imaging radiometers and spectrometers. Particle detectors include neutral particle sensors, ionic particle sensors, and plasma detectors. Supporting electronic technologies for power, mitigating environmental effects such as temperature drift or background radiation contamination, and calibration are included.","exampleTechnologies":"Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI), Dual Ion Sensors (DIS) Dual Electron Sensors (DES), Analog Fluxgate Magnetometer (AFG)","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":5,"currentTrl":7,"endTrl":7,"benefits":"We propose to design and fabricate, SiC intrinsically visible-blind, 10μm pitch, small-pixel-size UV and EUV detectors and active pixels. We also plan to design monolithic Geiger mode avalanche photodetectors, which can replace large and expensive multiplier tubes. These devices and optoelectronic integrated circuits have immediate applications in high-resolution imagers, and sensor and spectroscopy instrument components. Such components are usable for missions such as the successors to the Solar Orbiter, missions of the Living with a Star program, and other solar and terrestrial probes such as DYNAMIC and MEDICI, as well as in future instruments such as JEM-EUSO and OWL ultra-high energy cosmic ray instruments. The work described here also represents significant steps forward in SiC technology in general, and in monolithic integration of SiC sensors with their readout circuitry in particular. Low-power, high-sensitivity, extreme-environment-capable sensor technology is facilitated as SiC technology matures, with significant implications for the fabrication of low-weight, robust, efficient payloads, meeting the needs of future programs such as GEO-CAPE, the next-generation GOES and SOHO, and planetary science missions. The design and fabrication performed totally in the United States, and in close proximity to the NASA GSFC, which will be able to take advantage of CoolCAD's capability to fabricate application specific optoelectronic integrated circuits.
One of the largest extant markets for UV detection is sanitation and water filtration. UV water purification systems are in increasingly wide use. The target wavelength is 260nm, which denatures bacteria proteins. Such systems, which currently have a market size of $750 million, require sensors to monitor the efficacy of the system over time. CoolCAD Electronics is currently collaborating with several UV filtration companies to test SiC photodetector parts fabricated in-house. The shorter UV wavelength allows for higher imaging resolution, leading to commercial applications in manufacturing and quality control, for defect monitoring and material fatigue inspection, and in monitoring weld quality in industrial welding applications. In addition, SiC UV detectors have application for oil and gas exploration where they can replace expensive photomultiplier tubes. A military and government application area of UV sensors with high sensitivity in the EUV, VUV and Deep UV regions is early warning systems, since rocket and jet engine plumes emit UV radiation. There are also emergent non-line-of-sight communication systems using UV signals, which will significantly benefit from monolithic integration of UV photodetectors and communication electronics.","description":"CoolCAD Electronics, LLC, proposes to design and fabricate a SiC UV detector array with a 10μm pixel pitch, sensitive to EUV, VUV and Deep UV. SiC is a visible-blind material with very low intrinsic dark current, able to operate at >350C. Expanding from our past successful demonstration of UV sensors and MOSFET circuits on the same substrate, we will develop fabrication processes and capabilities to design and integrate SiC pn-junction photodiodes and low-voltage MOSFET devices with the required small dimensions. To our knowledge, this represents the first program to scale SiC optoelectronic circuits to such feature size restrictions; particularly, a 1μm MOSFET gate length and submicron margins for layer overlaps. Scaling monolithically-integrated sensors and transistors to submicron feature sizes advances the SiC technology state-of-the-art. We plan to extend our process flow and device designs to use a semiconductor reduction stepper during fabrication to enable submicron features. We will demonstrate single pn-junction photodiodes, photodiodes with MOSFETs in the 3-transistor pixel architecture, and arrays of both these structures. We will deliver a 32 x 32 passive array and a 4 x 4 active array that contains SiC MOSFETs as well as photodiodes. This effort lays the groundwork for developing a megapixel array in a future Phase II or related program. We will further design planar SiC avalanche photodiodes and planar APD arrays, as the initial step to monolithically integrating APDs with their readout electronics and therefore obtain a high-temperature-operation-capable detector, sensitive to extremely low illumination levels. The entire design and fabrication will be performed in the United States, and using CoolCAD's patent pending fabrication processes.","startYear":2017,"startMonth":6,"endYear":2017,"endMonth":12,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":504614,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Zeynep","lastName":"Dilli","fullName":"Zeynep Dilli","fullNameInverted":"Dilli, Zeynep","primaryEmail":"Zeynep.Dilli@Coolcadelectronics.Com","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":206378,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jason","lastName":"Kessler","fullName":"Jason L Kessler","fullNameInverted":"Kessler, Jason L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":215154,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jennifer","lastName":"Gustetic","fullName":"Jennifer L Gustetic","fullNameInverted":"Gustetic, Jennifer L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jennifer.l.gustetic@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":62051,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Torrez","fullName":"Carlos Torrez","fullNameInverted":"Torrez, Carlos","primaryEmail":"carlos.torrez@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":60394,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carl","lastName":"Kotecki","fullName":"Carl Kotecki","fullNameInverted":"Kotecki, Carl","primaryEmail":"carl.a.kotecki@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":461333,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Theresa","lastName":"Stanley","fullName":"Theresa M Stanley","fullNameInverted":"Stanley, Theresa M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"theresa.m.stanley@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"","libraryItems":[{"file":{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":292525,"fileName":"SBIR_2017_1_BC_S1.05-9394","fileSize":713595,"objectId":289042,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"696.9 KB"},"files":[{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":292525,"fileName":"SBIR_2017_1_BC_S1.05-9394","fileSize":713595,"objectId":289042,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"696.9 KB"}],"id":289042,"title":"Briefing Chart","description":"SiC 10um-Pitch UV Imaging Array and APD with Active Pixel Readout, Phase I Briefing Chart","libraryItemTypeId":1222,"projectId":93753,"primary":false,"publishedDateString":"","contentType":{"lkuCodeId":1222,"code":"DOCUMENT","description":"Document","lkuCodeTypeId":341,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"LIBRARY_ITEM_TYPE","description":"Library Item Type"}}},{"caption":"SiC 10um-Pitch UV Imaging Array and APD with Active Pixel Readout, Phase I Briefing Chart Image","file":{"fileExtension":"png","fileId":294634,"fileName":"SBIR_2017_1_BC_S1.05-9394","fileSize":874563,"objectId":291156,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"854.1 KB"},"files":[{"fileExtension":"png","fileId":294634,"fileName":"SBIR_2017_1_BC_S1.05-9394","fileSize":874563,"objectId":291156,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":889,"code":"LIBRARY_ITEMS","description":"Library Items","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"objectTypeId":889,"fileSizeString":"854.1 KB"}],"id":291156,"title":"Briefing Chart Image","description":"SiC 10um-Pitch UV Imaging Array and APD with Active Pixel Readout, Phase I Briefing Chart Image","libraryItemTypeId":1095,"projectId":93753,"primary":true,"publishedDateString":"","contentType":{"lkuCodeId":1095,"code":"IMAGE","description":"Image","lkuCodeTypeId":341,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"LIBRARY_ITEM_TYPE","description":"Library Item Type"}}}],"transitions":[],"primaryImage":{"file":{"fileExtension":"png","fileId":294634,"fileSizeString":"0 Byte"},"id":291156,"description":"SiC 10um-Pitch UV Imaging Array and APD with Active Pixel Readout, Phase I Briefing Chart Image","projectId":93753,"publishedDateString":""},"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"
The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
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