Princeton, NJ, June 12, 2003. Sensors Unlimited, has received a USAF contract for the first phase of a 33-month program to develop a high-frame-rate, high-bandwidth, low-noise, focal-plane array and camera for active tracking, wave-front sensing, laser ranging, imaging, and scoring. Sensors Unlimited's proposal was unique in that all of these objectives will be accomplished with a single focal plane array and camera. The Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency is providing the funding under a contract managed by the Air Force.
"For the first time, staring and ranging imaging will be possible with a single camera," said Dr. Marshall Cohen, president, Sensors Unlimited. "This pioneering, dual mode sensor/camera that we have proposed is made possible by Sensors Unlimited's patented technology that allows low noise, high sensitivity PIN photodiodes and high speed, high gain avalanche photodiodes to be fabricated within each pixel of the focal plane array. Despite sharing space within the pixel, each photodiode exhibits full optical fill factor."
The Phase 1 contract is a six-month period during which Sensors Unlimited will demonstrate its technical approaches for the Advanced Detector. If fully executed through Phase 3 of the program, the Sensors Unlimited contract will total $3.7M and will culminate in the delivery of two advanced cameras to the Air Force.
Sensors Unlimited, Inc. is a manufacturer of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) PIN and avalanche photodiode arrays that are used in near-infrared imaging for telecommunications, military and industrial spectroscopy applications.
For more information, visit www.sensorsinc.com .
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