Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Highly Scalable SiC UV Imager for Earth & Planetary Science
Project Description
Commercial silicon carbide (SiC)-based photonic sensors typically use p–i–n photodiode and reversed-biased Avalanche Photodiode (APD) detectors. These state-of-the-art SiC photodioides use the wafer substrate as one node of the device, thereby making monolithic integration of the device with control or analysis circuitry difficult, if not impossible. Ozark IC's new (patent pending) photo detecting devices are inherently suitable for integration in SiC-based low-voltage integrated circuit processes. By virtue of their construction, the photo-generation occurs efficiently and with very high gain. This proposal uses these high-gain photonic devices to construct the world's first monolithic SiC UV pixel sensor array. Also key to this proposal is Ozark IC's extensive library of SiC analog and mixed-signal IP and its expertise in extreme environment IC design.
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Anticipated Benefits
The first obvious application of this technology is to one of NASA's many current and planned earth science missions that require space-borne instruments capable of measuring light in the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum. 1) For the Geo-CAPE mission, recommended by the NRC for the Decadal Survey, tropospheric ozone measurements in the UV range of 290 nm-340 nm are required. An instrument based on the proposed technique is very feasible and would offer significant advantages in performance, size and weight over a discrete SiC diode-based approach. 2) For planetary composition experiments such as ATLAS and NOW, an instrument capable of generating a faint object spectrograph in the 115 – 350 nm UV range is also possible using this technology.
Other non-NASA applications include machine vision, industrial controls, safety, diagnostic/inspection systems. Deep UV imaging is of particular interest to semiconductor and scientific imaging markets. UV imaging for LAr neutrino detectors is also being investigated as a scientific application. An Innovation for Manufacturing: The application of the proposed imager to machine vision has major implications for increased automation of inspection tasks that are critical for nanoscale manufacturing. More »
Other non-NASA applications include machine vision, industrial controls, safety, diagnostic/inspection systems. Deep UV imaging is of particular interest to semiconductor and scientific imaging markets. UV imaging for LAr neutrino detectors is also being investigated as a scientific application. An Innovation for Manufacturing: The application of the proposed imager to machine vision has major implications for increased automation of inspection tasks that are critical for nanoscale manufacturing. More »
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ozark Integrated Circuits, Inc. | Lead Organization | Industry | Fayetteville, Arkansas |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Arkansas
-
Maryland
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