Santa Barbara Research Center

Other

Raytheon Company

Hughes Electronics Corporation

Jerry A Wilson

Stephen H Black

Michael D Jack

Michael S Ray

Roger William Graham

Richard H Wyles

Kenneth Kosai

William A Radford

James A Finch

James M Myrosznyk

Bonnie A Baumgratz

A unit cell () of a readout integrated circuit is constructed and operated so as to temporally align an image obtained in a first spectral band with a an image obtained in a second spectral band. A method operates, during a frame period, to sub-frame average a first signal detected in the first spectral band by a multi-spectral detector (), to sub-frame average a first signal detected in the second spectral band by the multi-spectral detector, and to sub-frame average a second signal detected in the first spectral band by the multi-spectral detector. The method then reads out the sub-frame averaged signals for each spectral band. The sub-frame averaged may be read out simultaneously from the unit cell. When sub-frame averaging the first and second signals in the first spectral band the method performs a plurality of consecutive sub-integrations and stores the result of each sub-integration on a first sub-frame averaging capacitance, and when sub-frame averaging the first signal of the second spectral band the method performs a single integration of the second signal, and stores the result of the integration on a second sub-frame averaging capacitance. The first spectral band may correspond to long wavelength infrared radiation (LWIR), and the second spectral band may correspond to medium wavelength infrared radiation (MWIR).

IRFPA ROIC with dual TDM reset integrators and sub-frame averaging functions per unit cell

A vertically adjustable spa cover assembly includes a cover movable above a spa between a raised position and a lowered position, the raised position being vertically above the lowered position. Lifts are used to raise and lower the cover. The cover assembly may also include a screen that surrounds the area between the cover and the spa. The lifts are threaded sections including rods and pipes which engage one another and move up and down as one or more of these threaded sections are rotated by a power source such as a motor or hand crank. The power source may engage the threaded sections through gears or sprockets, or less directly via a system of sprockets and a chain which drives the sprockets and the threaded sections in turn. Alternately, the lifts may be telescoping members pneumatically or hydraulically powered. The cover assembly may be built into a spa unit or added as a retrofit component.

Vertically adjustable spa cover assembly

An incubator taken directly into the field where birthing of newborn animals occurs. To facilitate easy handling and to provide durable construction, the incubator has a support frame that protects the components against damage during transportation. The incubator generally comprises a generally cylindrical container with an opening to allow insertion and removal of a newborn animal, and a heat exchanger mounted in the container. The heat exchanger houses a fan which continually circulates air over a heater core and into the container. With the use of quick release couplings at the ends of supply and return hoses, the heater core connects to the engine coolant system of an automobile. The incubator also connects to the automobile electrical system by way of a conventional male-female plug of the type used for trailer hitches. A temperature control system also is provided by the electrical connection of a thermostat to a control valve. The control valve opens and closes to regulate the flow of engine coolant to the heater core as the thermostat regulates the supply of electrical current to the control valve.

Newborn animal incubator for use in conjunction with an automobile

An array of photodetectors is constructed of IR radiation-responsive Group II-VI alloy semiconductor material, such as HgCdTe. A novel photodetector structure utilizes internal reflections from mesa (10, 10') sidewalls and/or from reflective material (22) that is applied to the mesa sidewalls to achieve a concentration of incident infrared radiation into a significantly smaller radiation absorbing region (16). The resulting self-focusing or light piping effect enables the leakage current and other noise-generating processes to be minimized, while providing an effective large optical collection area. The fabrication of specular, flat, sloped mesa sidewalls is preferably accomplished by a reactive ion etch process. Signal crosstalk between photodetectors is reduced or eliminated since the radiation absorbing regions are fully delineated and isolated from one another by deep trenches that define the mesa sidewalls. Thus, the diffusion of optically generated carriers from one photodetector to an adjacent photodetector is prevented.

Self-focusing detector pixel structure having improved sensitivity

A radiation detector (1) unit cell (10) includes an n-p+ LWIR photodiode that is vertically integrated with a p+-n MWIR photodiode in a n-p+-n structure. Electrical contact is made separately to each of these layers in order to simultaneously detect both the LWIR and MWIR bands. The electrical contact is made via indium bump interconnections (23, 25, 27) enabling the unit cell to be subsequently hybridized with a topside mounted electronic readout integrated circuit (30). The n-p+-n structure in a given pixel of an array of radiation detector pixels is electrically isolated from all neighboring pixels by a trench (28) that is etched into an underlying substrate (12). To compensate for a reduction in the optically sensitive area due to the placement of the electrical contacts and the presence of the pixel isolation trench, a microlens (34) may be provided within, upon, or adjacent to the backside, radiation receiving surface of the substrate in registration with the unit cell.

Integrated LPE-grown structure for simultaneous detection of infrared

A VLWIR proximity effect detector 10 includes a substrate 12, a bulk superconducting material 14, a proximity layer 16 which overlies a portion of the bulk superconducting material 14, an insulator layer 17 and a transparent tunnelling electrode 18. Detector electrical contacts 19 are provided on the proximity layer 16 and on the electrode 18. VLWIR, indicated by the arrows, is absorbed in proximity layer 16 and causes a detectable modulation of tunnelling characteristics (current or voltage) between the proximity layer 16 and the electrode 18. The proximity layer has a thickness on the order of a coherence length for the material which comprises the proximity layer. In accordance with the invention it has been determined that a spatially varying energy gap (E.sub.gap) induced in the proximity layer by the adjacent superconducting material results in the proximity layer having a longer cut off wavelength than that of the adjacent bulk superconducting material. The lower value of the induced E.sub.gap within the proximity layer results in Cooper pair breaking with photons of lower energy, or longer wavelength, than is possible in the bulk superconducting material.

Proximity effect very long wavlength infrared (VLWIR) radiation detector

A high temperature superconductor (HTS) fabrication process employs a two level metal deposition sequence for depositing a layer of metal (14, 18) over HTS material (12) to protect the HTS material from subsequent, possibly deleterious, processing steps. The process of the invention provides a capability for both patterning a HTS film material and electrically contacting the film using conventional photolithographic processes. The process of the invention furthermore accomplishes these objectives without degrading the superconducting properties of the film. The two level metal process protects the film from aqueous based processes such as photoresist development. The two level metal process furthermore does not require processes such as aqueous based chemical etching or ion milling of the surfaces of the superconducting film, thereby eliminating at least two processes which are known to degrade the superconducting properties of HTS material.

High temperature superconductor detector fabrication process

A radiation detecting array 10 has a frequency domain architecture wherein incident radiation is imaged in parallel by an array of radiation detectors 12-16. Each radiation detector has an associated amplitude to frequency conversion device 18-22 for providing output signals wherein the output of each photodetector is represented as a frequency within a uniquely identified band of frequencies, the specific frequency being a function of the output signal amplitude of the photodetector. The readout of one or more selected detectors is accomplished by providing a swept frequency band or bands associated with the desired detector or detectors and mixing the detector frequencies with the swept band. The frequency representing the photodetector output may be input directly to a low dispersion transmission line 30. The unit cells may include radiation detectors comprised of superconducting material and also superconducting components that inherently manifest current or voltage to frequency conversion characteristics in accordance with the Josepson effect. An array having high temperature superconducting components includes photodetectors 60, associated voltage to frequency convertors 64 and a transmission line 70 integrated upon a common substrate.

Growing community of inventors

Goleta, CA, United States of America

Jerry A Wilson