INCOM, INC. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 38a

Description

The high energy physics (HEP) community, the scientific and medical communities and the public at large, require the availability of high sensitivity photosensors with improved spatial and temporal resolution that can be scaled to large areas, and manufactured in a robust, durable and compact package at a low cost. Under Phase II TTO program (DOE Award #DESC0009717) Incom Inc. has established the process technology and pilot production infrastructure to make Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors (LAPPDTMs). The goal of this Phase IIA Sequential SBIR program is to complete the R&D associated with the Phase II TTO program. This Phase IIA Funding Opportunity addresses the need for continued R&D to fully develop the detector. The R&D issues that will be addressed in the Phase IIA Sequential SBIR Grant Application build directly upon the same tasks addressed in the original contract. Based upon success of Phase I and Phase II programs Incom Inc. will pursue the main of this Phase IIA program – to demonstrate pilot production of LAPPDs. The availability of largearea photodetectors with time resolutions below 10 psec and space resolutions of <50 microns produced economically will enable new techniques in HEP for multiple vertex separation and particle identity at highluminosity colliders, possible light collection in heavynobleliquid ionization detectors, highresolution electromagnetic calorimeters, large noncryogenic tracking neutrino detectors, and combinatorial photon background rejection in rare kaondecay experiments. Other commercial application of these devices will include detectors for mass spectrometers, medical imaging (PET), as well as neutron detection for scientific and homeland security (nonproliferation) applications. Key Words – LargeArea Psec Photodetectors, Pico second, LAPPD, Time of flight detector, Hermetic packaging, Capillary arrays, Microchannel plate, MCP, Atomic layer deposition, ALD, PET, Photocathode, Bialkali photocathode, Anode. Large area high sensitivity photosensors with improved spatial and temporal resolution are a high risk, high payoff development undertaken by a consortium of effort that links the US National Laboratories, multiple universities and the small businesses (Incom Inc.) that will commercialize the technology. This development will enable instrumentation that will advance our basic understanding of matter and will lead to new diagnostic medical instrumentation such as PET scanning.