SEEING PHOTONS
PROGRESS AND LIMITS OF VISIBLE AND INFRARED SENSOR ARRAYS
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This is a report of work supported by contract HHM402-05-D-0011 between the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENTS IN DETECTOR TECHNOLOGIES
STEVEN R.J. BRUECK, Chair,
University of New Mexico
PAUL McMANAMON, Vice Chair,
Exciting Technology, LLC
STEFAN BAUR,
Raytheon Vision Systems
VALERIE BROWNING,
ValTech Solutions, LLC
JOHN DEVITT,
Georgia Tech Research Institute
THOMAS HARTWICK, Independent Consultant
ANGELA HODGE,
Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
MICHAEL HOPMEIER,
Unconventional Concepts, Inc.
STEVEN JOST,
BAE Systems
LINDA KATEHI,
University of California, Davis
SEETHAMBAL MANI,
Sandia National Laboratories
C. KUMAR PATEL,
Pranalytica, Inc.
TAMAR PELI,
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
DAVID SHAVER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory
JONATHAN SMITH,
University of Pennsylvania
Staff
CARTER W. FORD, Study Director
NORMAN HALLER, Consultant
SARAH CAPOTE, Research Associate
MARGUERITE SCHNEIDER, Administrative Coordinator
URRIKKA WOODS, Program Associate (to February 26, 2010)
STANDING COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT—GAUGE, EVALUATE, AND REVIEW
RUTH A. DAVID, Chair,
ANSER, Inc.
BRIAN BALLARD,
ARES Systems Group
STEVEN R.J. BRUECK,
University of New Mexico
ANN N. CAMPBELL,
Sandia National Laboratories
ALAN H. EPSTEIN,
Pratt and Whitney
JOHN GANNON,
BAE Systems
SHARON C. GLOTZER,
University of Michigan
CHRISTOPHER C. GREEN,
Wayne State University
DIANE E. GRIFFIN,
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
J.C. HERZ,
Batchtags, LLC
ALLISON HICKEY,
Accenture National Security Services
J. JEROME HOLTON,
ARES Systems Group
KENNETH KRESS,
KBK Consulting
FREDERICK R. LOPEZ,
AMC Incorporated
GILMAN G. LOUIE,
Alsop-Louie Partners
STUART PARKIN,
IBM Almaden Research Center
JULIE J.C.H. RYAN,
George Washington University
Staff
MICHAEL A. CLARKE, Lead DEPS Board Director
CARTER W. FORD, Program Officer
DANIEL E.J. TALMAGE, JR., Program Officer
MARGUERITE SCHNEIDER, Administrative Coordinator
KAMARA BROWN, Research Associate
SARAH CAPOTE, Research Associate
SHANNON THOMAS, Program Associate
Preface
The Department of Defense has recently highlighted intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities as a top priority for U.S. warfighters. Contributions provided by ISR assets in the operational theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan have been widely documented in press reporting. While the United States continues to increase investments in ISR capabilities, other nations not friendly to the United States will continue to seek countermeasures to U.S. capabilities.
The Technology Warning Division of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA’s) Defense Warning Office (DWO) has the critical responsibility, in collaboration with other components of the intelligence community (IC), for providing U.S. policy makers insight into technological developments that may impact future U.S. warfighting capabilities. To this end, the IC requested that the National Research Council (NRC) investigate and report on key visible and infrared detector technologies, with potential military utility, that are likely to be developed in the next 10-15 years. This study is the eighth in a series sponsored by the DWO and executed under the auspices of the NRC TIGER (Technology Insight—Gauge, Evaluate, and Review) Standing Committee.
A committee of experts in the scientific and technical areas relating to visible and infrared detectors was formed to conduct this study. Faced with a relatively short time frame for completing the study, the committee very much appreciates the timely and informed cooperation of the IC members who sponsored the study, as well as the many government, industry, and university participants who contributed valuable information during the committee’s meetings.
We wish to thank all of the committee members for their efforts in producing this report in a very short period of less than four months from first meeting to peer review. In addition, the peer reviewers and monitor provided insightful and useful comments that improved the quality of the report. A sincere thank you is due to the NRC staff including Carter Ford, Sarah Capote, Marguerite Schneider, and Urrikka Woods. The contributions of Norm Haller in providing organizational and technical writing assistance were also of immense value to the committee.
Steven R.J. Brueck, Chair
Paul McManamon, Vice Chair
Committee on Developments in Detector Technologies
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
R. Stephen Berry, University of Chicago
James Coleman, University of Illinois
Ruth David, Anser, Inc.
Donald Gaver, Naval Postgraduate School
Anthony Hyder, University of Notre Dame
Kenneth Kress, KBK Consulting, Inc.
Robert Latiff, Science Applications International Corporation
Manijeh Razeghi, Northwestern University.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Elsa Garmire, Dartmouth College. Appointed
by the NRC, she was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Acronyms
ABL airborne laser
ADC analog-to-digital converter
AGC automatic gain control
APD avalanche photodiode
APS active pixel sensor
ARGUS-IS Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System
ARTEMIS Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer
ASAT antisatellite (capability)
ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
ATC/R automatic target cuing-recognition
BLIP background-limited infrared photodetection
CCD charge-coupled device
CDL Common Data Link
CMOS complementary metal oxide semiconductor
CNT carbon nanotube
COP coefficient of performance
COTS commercial off-the-shelf
CPU central processing unit
CTE charge transfer efficiency
CTIA capacitor transimpedance amplifier
CZT cadmium zinc telluride
3-D three-dimensional
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DCT discrete cosine transform
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency
DOD Department of Defense
DRAM dynamic random access memory
DWELL (Quantum) Dots in a (quantum) well detector
DWO Defense Warning Office
DWT discrete wavelet transform
EMI electromagnetic interference
EO electro-optical
FET field-effect transistor
FLIR forward-looking infrared
FOV field of view
FPA focal plane array
FPDP front-panel data port
FPGA field-programmable gate array
GEO geosynchronous orbit
GM-APD geiger mode avalanche photodiode
GPU graphics processing unit
G-R generation-recombination
HDMI high-definition multimedia interface
HEO high Earth orbit
IC integrated circuit; intelligence community
IED improvised explosive device
IR infrared
IRST infrared search and track system
ISR intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
ITAR International Traffic in Arms Regulations
ITO indium tin oxide
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
JWST James Webb Space Telescope
LACOSTE Large Area Coverage Optical Search-while-Track and Engage
LADAR laser detection and ranging
LED light-emitting diode
LEO low Earth orbit
LPE liquid-phase epitaxy
LRU line-replaceable unit
LVDS low-voltage differential signaling
LWIR long-wavelength infrared
MBE molecular beam epitaxy
MCT mercury cadmium telluride
MDE Multicore Development Environment
MEMS microelectromechanical system
MEO middle Earth orbit
MGM metal-graphene-metal
MOS metal oxide semiconductor
MTF modulation transfer function
MWIR mid-wavelength infrared
NA numerical aperture
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NEP noise-equivalent power
NIR near infrared
NNI National Nanotechnology Initiative
NRC National Research Council
NRDA National Research and Development Act
NTIS National Technical Information Service
NUC nonuniformity correction
OTCCD orthogonal transfer CCD
PCR polymerase chain reaction
PnC phononic crystal
QDIP quantum-dot IR photodetector
QE quantum efficiency
QWIP quantum-well IR photodetector
R&D research and development
RF radio frequency
RGB red, green, blue (color model)
ROIC readout integrated circuit
RTG radioisotope thermoelectric generator
RTI Research Triangle Institute
SERS surface-enhanced Raman scattering
Si PIN diode with an intrinsic silicon layer between the P- and N-type regions
SITP Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics
SLS strain-layer superlattice
SOI silicon on insulator
SOT statement of task
SPD single-photon detector
SPW surface plasma wave
SWaP size, weight, and power
SWIR short-wavelength infrared
SWNT single-wall carbon nanotube
TDI time delay-and-integrate
TE thermoelectric
TIGER Standing Committee on Technology Insight—Gauge, Evaluate, and Review
TOMBO Thin Observation Module using Bound Optics
UGS unattended ground sensor
UV ultraviolet
VLWIR very long wavelength infrared