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MALIBU, Calif., January 5, 2010—HRL Laboratories, LLC, has received a contract award from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to continue work on the FastFPA program. HRL will use a new epitaxial approach called strained-layer superlattices (SLS) to develop manufacturing technologies for long-wavelength infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) for imaging and detector systems. The effort includes developing single-color longwave infrared FPAs as well as two-color detectors based on the SLS technology.
These strained-layer superlattices are comprised of thin layers of arsenide- and antimonide-based semiconductors and show promise in delivering state-of-the-art FPA performance at a reduced cost. "The advantages of SLS have been known for a while, but only recently when combined with advances in material quality, device design and processing techniques have high-performance SLS FPAs been demonstrated," said Dr. Rajesh Rajavel, manager of the Detector Technologies Department at HRL and program lead. "The scalability of this material system will allow for significant cost savings as we move towards large-format arrays."
HRL will leverage its long-term experience and infrastructure for processing arsenide- and antimonide-based materials in the Phase 2, 12-month collaborative effort, which includes read-out integrated circuit and epi wafer suppliers, the Naval Research Laboratory and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, California (www.hrl.com) is a corporate research-and-development laboratory owned by The Boeing Company and General Motors specializing in research into sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. HRL provides custom research and development and performs additional R&D contract services for its LLC member companies, the U.S. government, and other commercial companies.