Jan 28 2011
ODIS has secured a development contract from NASA that will comprise a Phase I Award of $100,000. NASA has selected ODIS' PlanarOptoElectric Technology (POET) platform as an ideal technique to build Optoelectronic infrastructure for Optical/RF phased array sensors.
Advanced sensors in space need both mmw (millimeter wave) sensing at 35 GHz and optical sensing at 1.5 µm. Usually, individual emitting openings are needed for the RF and optical operations. ODIS will create the POET to integrate the optical transmit and RF beams for phased array sensors into one monolithic circuit, with every circuit offering a pixel of the RF array.
The POET will allow on-chip electronic control of both optical and RF beam steering angles. A huge number of similar spacecraft sensors will be installed in extended space missions that will improve reliability and remove both power and weight.
The President of ODIS, Leon M. Pierhal commented that small phased array sensors with optical and RF emission have huge commercial market in aviation, security and free space optics communication industries. These active sensors complement conventional visible and IR imagers, he added.
ODIS' latest proprietary semiconductor production procedure is the PlanarOptoElectric Technology. The POET is a Group III-V substances system that backs monolithic production of integrated circuits comprising passive and active optical components as well as digital and analog components. A cost-effective combination of multiple optical equipment along with low power, ultra-speed digital, heavy,and ultra-speed analog components is possible in monolithic integrated circuits.
The POET enables ODIS to change the background for a wide range of applications solutions by introducing components that are low-cost ad exhibit high density, speed and durability.