Princeton, NJ, August 1, 2003. Sensors Unlimited, a maker of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) devices, has received a subcontract from Battelle for a 12 month, $530,000 program to develop an all solid-state InGaAs short wave infrared range-gated camera system. Battelle, a global leader in science and technology, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, develops and commercializes technology and manages laboratories for government and commercial customers.
The prime contract was issued by the US Army Research Laboratory in Adelphia, Maryland. Sensors Unlimited will develop a new focal plane array and camera featuring range-gates shorter than 200 ns. The camera will be integrated with a compact eye-safe laser that will allow range-gated imaging at distances greater than 2 kilometers.
"This will be the first all solid state range-gated imaging system. An all solid-state system allows for a lightweight and durable camera that can be manufactured at a cost much lower than current tube-based systems," said Dr. Martin H. Ettenberg, Director of Imaging Products, Sensors Unlimited.
The camera will incorporate an InGaAs focal plane array with 320x256 pixels, sensitive to light from 0.9 microns to 1.7 microns. It will be capable of passive imaging in a staring mode with long integration times and active imaging with illumination provided by a short-pulse laser. Gated imaging allows high-resolution imaging at long distances through fog, rain, and other obscurants.
Founded in 1991, Sensors Unlimited, Inc. is a manufacturer of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) PIN and avalanche photodiode arrays that are used in shortwave and near infrared imaging for military, industrial, spectroscopic, machine vision, and telecommunications applications. Sensors Unlimited provides InGaAs photodiode array processing as a foundry service and designs custom readout integrated circuits for unique imaging applications within its ISO 9001 certified facility.
For more information, visit www.sensors.com .
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