October 19, 2004
For Immediate Release

HRL Laboratories Awarded Microantenna Arrays Contract for Improved Millimeter Wave Imaging

LOS ANGELES, October 19, 2004— HRL Laboratories, LLC has been awarded a $1.9M 18-month Phase I contract from the Microsystems Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop inexpensive passive millimeter-wave imaging arrays. The award is under the �Microantenna Arrays: Technology and Applications� program. The HRL proposal, entitled �W-Band Backward Diode Microantenna Arrays,� is to develop and demonstrate a low-cost, high-sensitivity imaging array of microantennas and detectors in a focal plane array structure without radio frequency (RF) amplification. Intended applications of such technology specified by DARPA include helicopter obstacle avoidance in fog/clouds, helicopter landing aid in fog, foul weather navigation, fire hot-spot location through smoke, concealed weapons detection, missile guidance in dust and smoke, and military personnel extraction.   

The HRL approach is based on a novel millimeter-wave detecting diode that uses proprietary technology, and on an inexpensive antimonide-based semiconductor fabrication process. The resulting device is an innovative detector diode that replaces the commonly used Schottky diode. The main advantage is that unlike Schottky diodes that require a constant bias voltage to boost sensitivity, the HRL diode requires none. Since noise (1/f and shot) increases dramatically with bias, the HRL diode is orders of magnitude less noisy, eliminating the need for an RF amplifier to boost the incoming signal above the detector noise level. The exceptionally low noise behavior is the key to achieving high quality imaging without expensive and power consuming RF low noise amplifiers, greatly reducing the cost of the array as a whole and moving useful high-resolution passive millimeter-wave cameras closer to reality in the near future.

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HRL Laboratories, LLC is a corporate R&D laboratory owned by Boeing, General Motors, and Raytheon. HRL performs R&D services for its three owners, for the U.S. government, and for other commercial entities.