ARPA-sponsored team to develo¥uncooled focal-plane-array silicon detectors

Inframetrics (N. Billerica, MA) is leading a technology partnershi¥sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)--the Uncooled Low-cost Technology Reinvestment Alliance (ULTRA)--that has been awarded $9.2 million from the Technology Reinvestment Project. The team, which includes Honeywell Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) and Rockwell International (Anaheim, CA), will develop, manufacture, and sell a series of advanced industrial and military infrared sensors based on uncooled focal-plane-array microbolometer silicon detectors. The ULTRA team plans to reduce the costs of infrared radiometric and imaging sensors by a factor of eight. According to Inframetrics president Jay Teich, successful commercialization of this technology could create $350 million in business and 6000 skilled domestic jobs within five years.