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News / EventsSan Francisco, California Spectrum Detector, Inc. And Strategic Partner, SRICO, Inc., Win Phase I SBIR Air Force Contract Lake Oswego, Oregon SRICO Develops Economical New Processing Technique for Nonlinear Optical Components Columbus, OH SRICO Develops New Materials Platform for Optical Components Columbus, OH SRICO WINS CONTRACT TO DEVELOP ULTRA-HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE OPTICAL MODULATORS Columbus, OH Columbus, OH __________________________________________________________________ Pyroelectric thermal detectors are excellent candidates for broadband Terahertz (THz) radiation detection. Such detectors utilize permanently poled ferroelectric crystals to generate a charge as the crystal heats up by absorbing THz radiation. The charge is directly proportional to the rate of change of temperature of the crystal. The fundamental approach toward enhancing pyroelectric detector response is to form the pyroelectric material into a thin film. The reduction in thickness translates immediately to a proportionate increase in responsivity of the detector. The thermal time response is also faster by virtue of reduced thermal sinking through the thin film to the surrounding support structure. In general, both the thinness and the aspect ratio of detector aperture to film thickness will determine the aggregate performance gain achieved over a comparable sized thicker film detector. High aspect ratio detectors have additional benefit for arrays, where thermal isolation between pixels is especially important. To form thin uniform bulk quality films of pyroelectric lithium tantalate, SRICO uses crystal ion slicing techniques. In the slicing process, a bulk lithium tantalate seed wafer is implanted with helium ions to form a concentrated damage layer at a well defined and uniform depth below the wafer surface. Depending on the device application, ion slicing comprises either wet etch lift-off or thermal shearing off of the bulk crystal surface layer at the implant depth. After bonding to a suitable handle wafer, a polishing process is used to further thin and smooth the film. An important consideration for such thin films is the reduced available absorption depth as the film thickness is reduced. The radiation response for the detectors in this work was maximized by using absorbing spray-on carbon nanotube coatings with low thermal mass that rapidly transferred heat to the lithium tantalate crystal film. Detector devices based on 9 micron thick ion sliced films were demonstrated to have detectivity performance about 20 times that of state of the art commercially available products. More recent work has resulted in films on order of one to two micron thickness, over an order of magnitude thinner than films formed from mechanical lapping and polishing. Completed detector devices using such films are expected to achieve room temperature performance gains up to 100 times relative to state of the art commercially available pyroelectric detectors. The ion slicing and layer transfer process is scalable to wafer level processing on silicon substrates, making the technology suitable for monolithic THz imaging arrays and integrated electronics. Feel free to download and review Vince's presentation here Lake Oswego, Oregon, March 16, 2008 – Spectrum Detector, Inc., a leading manufacturer of pyroelectric detectors, electronics and instruments for measuring optical power and energy, today announced its strategic partner, SRICO, Inc., a premier manufacturer of high performance optical integrated circuit components and optoelectronic subsystems, was awarded a Phase I SBIR contract from the United States Air Force Research Laboratory. This $100,000 contract enables Spectrum Detector and SRICO to work together to develop next-generation, ultra-sensitive pyroelectric detectors targeted at THz applications. “We are developing a revolutionary process that will enable large-scale production of 1µm to 5µm, single-crystal, thin-film pyroelectric detectors,” said Sri Sriram, president of SRICO. “We anticipate an order of magnitude increase in detector performance over the current technology,” In addition, these devices will operate at room temperature, a major improvement over conventional high-sensitivity sensor solutions, like microbolometers, that typically require bulky, costly cryogenic cooling systems. “Room-temperature operation is critical,” Sriram continued. “Not only does it provide greater design flexibility, it helps open the door to a full range of portable THz applications, from medical instrumentation to bomb-detection devices.” Spectrum Detector will focus its efforts on manufacturability. “What we bring to the table is the know-how to make these devices cost effective and easy to produce – while maintaining the utmost in quality and performance,” said Don Dooley, president of Spectrum Detector. “In today’s market, the most advanced thin-film detectors one can specify are typically 25µm thick– and these have to be hand crafted, one by one. In contrast, we anticipate our new manufacturing processes will allow semi-automated fabrication of up to 100 devices per substrate – even when fabricating devices as thin as 1µm to 5µm.” About Spectrum Detector. About SRICO Columbus, OH – SRICO, Inc., a manufacturer of state-of-the-art optoelectronic components, has successfully developed innovative methods to produce periodically oriented compound semiconductor nonlinear optical materials. The new processing techniques will provide an economical means of manufacturing high quality semiconductor and other crystals that serve as a platform for optical components used in military and civilian communication and sensor networks. Nonlinear optical materials are presently used in telecommunications as switches and modulators and impact broadband communication technologies such as dense-wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). According to a recent report from Business Communications Company, Inc., the global combined revenue of compound semiconductor-related products, which include materials, components, and subsystems, reached $13 billion in 2004, and is projected to grow at a 17.5% average annual growth rate (AAGR) to nearly $30 billion by 2009. The components market, which includes subcategories of radio-frequency and microwave components, optoelectronic components, and sensor and detector components, accounted for more than $7 billion in 2004 and is expected to grow at an AAGR of 17.9% to $16.8 billion in 2009. Used in electronic devices and fiber optical communications systems, optoelectronic components constitute the majority of the compound semiconductor component market. SRICO will use the new processing technology it has developed to create efficient optical devices from the visible to the infrared segment of the electromagnetic spectrum, including wavelength frequency converters, laser light sources, modulators, and switches. Such optical components are used by aerospace and defense companies, optical networking companies, and optical switching systems equipment suppliers. This unique processing technology was developed under contract from the U.S. Air Force through its Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program. SRICO has partnered with the University of Dayton for this development. SRICO specializes in the design, development, manufacture, and worldwide marketing of high performance optical integrated circuit components and optoelectronic subsystems that dramatically improve optical signal transmission and electrical measurement in communication and sensor networks. Among the company’s current product portfolio are photonic sensors that detect and measure electric field, current, and voltage; electro-optic modulators; optical wavelength switches; optical frequency converters; and analog fiber optic links. For more information about this press release please contact: Columbus, OH – SRICO, Inc., a manufacturer of optical integrated circuit-based components, has successfully developed a novel ferroelectric relaxor material that will enable the production of a new class of ultra-high sensitivity, compact optical components. The company has successfully demonstrated the use of this new material in a high performance sensor for the U.S. Navy. Optical integrated circuits are key platforms for components used in fiber optic communication and sensor networks. Using this newly developed materials technology, SRICO will create new optical integrated circuit platforms to be used in sensor, modulator, and switching devices. Optical devices based on ferroelectric relaxor materials are expected to outperform devices based on other materials used as the substrate for currently available commercial components. The new ferroelectric relaxor material is capable of demonstrating an electro-optic coefficient that is more than an order of magnitude higher than the industry standard lithium niobate material. Optical devices fabricated on this ferroelectric relaxor platform have the promise to operate efficiently up to and beyond 100 GHz. Thus, the new materials platform will result in a new generation of optical components for both military and commercial applications in sensing and communication networks. According to a recent BCC report, the market for non-linear optical materials is expected to reach $1.66 billion by 2009. This growth is mainly due to the demand for telecommunications, lasers and electro-optical applications. Non-linear optical materials are presently used in telecommunications as switches and modulators. The technology was developed under contract from the U.S. Navy through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Initial applications of the technology will be the creation of high performance electromagnetic field sensors for high power microwave (HPM) testing. However, the largest market for this technology is for high speed, secure, optical communication devices, such as modulators and switches used in fiber optic and free-space optical communication and switching systems, local area networks (LANs), and chip-to-chip optical interconnects. SRICO specializes in the design, development, manufacture, and worldwide marketing of high performance optical integrated circuit components and optoelectronic subsystems that dramatically improve optical signal transmission and electrical measurement in communication and sensor networks. Among the company’s current product portfolio are photonic sensors that detect and measure electric field, current, and voltage; electro-optic modulators; optical wavelength switches; optical frequency converters; and analog fiber optic links. For more information about this press release, please contact: Srico, a Columbus-based photonics company, was awarded a $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to continue to pursue development for the U.S. Air Force of an ultra-high dynamic range modulated optical source based on a compact Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) intensity modulator. Modulators, which are key components in optical communication and sensor networks, turn light on and off to encode the information being sent through the network. During the SBIR Phase I preliminary development, Srico set a world-record 66 dB extinction ratio for an optical modulator, a ratio of about 4 million to 1. To achieve these results, the company used proprietary waveguide designs and innovative device fabrication processes. The design ensures that the dynamic range available is more than ten thousand times greater than what is obtainable from currently available commercial Mach-Zehnder modulators. The modulator device is capable of integration onto a larger optical chip containing 256 channels. The breakthrough technology developed under this SBIR program will be used to develop commercial electro-optic modulator components with very high extinction ratio ≥ 60 dB and low drive voltage that operate over a broad spectral range. “The ultra-high dynamic range modulators will be a key addition to the company’s modulator product portfolio,” says Sri Sriram, President and Founder of Srico. “This Air Force project is enabling Srico to develop a unique platform technology for surveillance activities in homeland security and defense, phased array and other radar, free space optical communications, satellite communications, mobile communications, sensor networks, and telecommunications networks,” says Sriram. Srico, which was established in 1990, specializes in integrated optical waveguide components and optoelectronic subsystems that dramatically improve signal transmission and electrical measurement in communication and sensor networks. Among the company’s current product portfolio are electro-optic modulators, optical wavelength switches, analog fiber optic links, and photonic sensors that detect and measure electric field, current, and voltage. SRICO, Inc., a Columbus-based photonics company, has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Research, to develop a neurophysiological optical sensor suite for Gravity-Induced Loss of Consciousness (GLOC) monitoring and intervention. Real-time monitoring of the physiological state of pilots flying high performance tactical aircraft would help to prevent aviation mishaps due to gravity-induced loss of consciousness and loss of lives and aircraft. If significant performance and safety improvements are to be achieved in the military, it is important that miniature, compact, reliable, and rugged sensor technologies are developed to monitor the neurophysiological response of the brain in stressful operational environments, including the tactical cockpit. The neurophysiological sensor suite, which uses SRICO’s patented optical PhotrodeTM technology, would offer a new approach for monitoring the physiological conditions of military pilots and other combat personnel in a reliable, convenient, and non-intrusive way. Current electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring is accomplished through electrode-based instrumentation systems that require adhesives or conductive gel. A PhotrodeTM is a miniature optical chip-based sensor that uses light instead of electricity as the transmission medium, and they do not require adhesives or gels. A set of simple dry-scalp-contact PhotrodesTM, placed in the helmet of an aviator could potentially be used for routinely monitoring EEG in typical military scenarios. The sensing system would be suitable for integration with tactical aircraft cockpit and control systems to provide a reliable means to rapidly detect the onset of GLOC, provide alert/alarm functions and activate an autopilot recovery mechanism. Such a product has significant commercial potential outside the military for anesthesia awareness monitoring, critical care monitoring, alertness monitoring in the transportation industry, sleep medicine, and perhaps other neuromonitoring applications. |