SBIR-STTR Award

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), unmanned and autonomous systems are profoundly changing our society in general and the battlefield in particular. Robotic systems may not only lower the social acceptance threshold for war, but also present new technological challenges. Passive optical sensors (not radars, not lidars) significantly reduce, if not completely eliminate, electromagnetic emission for Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD). We propose the InGaAs SWIR PSIC focal plane array (FPA) camera as sketched in Figure 1 to maximize resolution and minimize the SWaP-C of the SWIR image sensor chip, the SWIR camera module and the integrated SHORAD system. Phase I will see the proof of concept, Phase II will see the prototype and delivery, and Phase III will see the commercialization and next generations incorporating further quantum improvements, respectively, of the proposed uncooled SWIR PSIC imager of 100 M pixel ultra-high-resolution. We will collaborate with well-established aerospace and defense companies, who will independently experimentally verify our fabricated PSIC pixel, PSIC array and/or PSIC SWIR camera. We will also fabricate several technology demonstrator units, deliver to DoD and serve DoD programs of record.