Commercialization of IR-sensor-chip stacks to be investigated

Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA) has awarded an $880,000 15-month Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency subcontract to Irvine Sensors (Costa Mesa, CA) to make infrared (IR) sensor component manufacture more efficient and commercially viable. Irvine Sensors will establish design criteria that would allow IR-sensor signal- processing-chip stacks to be fabricated side by side with computer memory stacks using commercial semiconductor-manufacturing methods. Northrop Grumman expects the production efficiencies realized to permit designing new generations of high-performance sensor systems at significantly reduced costs, accelerating the use of chip stacking for satellite and avionics sensors.