NASA has been employing single SiC detectors in solar missions, and would be very interested in arrays of such solar-blind detectors for UV space astronomy missions if available. As exemplified in the Hubble telescope instruments, long wavelength blocking filters exact a high price due to their limited life and low transmission in the ultraviolet.
There is an existing and continuing need for solar blind image sensors that do not employ vacuum tubes, improving reliability and reducing the cost of sensors that improve the ability to detect missile threats against the daytime sky background. There is a need for ultraviolet spectrometers employed in research to minimize sensitivity to scattered light at longer wavelengths. Solar blind UV imaging is needed in bio-chemistry to detect unique target signatures in detection of chemical surface residues and biological agents. Robust SiC CMOS-based digital circuits would be of interest for nuclear physics research tools. Thus the customers are DOD, NASA, DOE, and academic and industrial research laboratories.
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