SRICO INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N202-125
SRICO INC — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Defense.
Phase I SBIR feasibility signal
- Phase I awards fund proof-of-concept work. For capture teams, they mark early interest from Department of Defense in a technical approach.
- Watch for Phase II follow-ons from the same firm/topic family — that conversion path is where budgets and transition pressure rise.
- Obligated amount $139,990. Cross-check similar awards in the same agency and technology tags for going-rate context.
- Topic code N202-125 links this award to a solicitation family — search the same topic stem for incumbents and recompete timing.
- Amount
- $139,990
- Agency
- Department of Defense · Navy
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- N202-125
- Solicitation
- 20.2
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- OH
- Period
- 2020-10-13 → 2021-04-13
Description
Terahertz (THz) imaging systems are important for many applications, including non-destructive evaluation, cancer screening, and security. The best performing THz imaging systems utilize femtosecond lasers and ultrafast photoconductive antenna (PCA) switches for optoelectronic generation and read-out of THz pulses. To operate at high speeds, PCAs are based on sub-picosecond carrier lifetime materials such as low temperature grown gallium arsenide (LT-GaAs). A typical THz PCA sensor element is nearly a centimeter in size and large compared to sub-mm THz wavelengths. This makes it impractical to implement an imaging focal plane array (FPA) in PCA technology. Instead, imaging in the THz range is accomplished with a single PCA element by mechanically raster scanning over a field of view. This proposal applies novel device design and processing techniques to solve the pixel size issue in PCA arrays. The proposed technology has potential to deliver 1-3 THz bandwidth, dynamic range > 30 dB, and 1 Hz frame rates in an ultra- compact and high-resolution imaging FPA more than 1 kilo pixels in size.