SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
QmagiQ
22 Cotton Road, Unit H, Suite 180
Nashua, NH 03063 - 4219
(603) 821-3092

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mani Sundaram
msundaram@qmagiq.com
22 Cotton Road, Unit H, Suite 180
Nashua, NH 03063 - 4219
(603) 821-3092 Extension :200

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mani Sundaram
msundaram@qmagiq.com
22 Cotton Road, Unit H, Suite 180
Nashua, NH 03063 - 4219
(603) 821-3092 Extension :200

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 4

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Sensor and Detector Technology for Visible, IR, Far IR and Submillimeter is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Earth observing missions like NASA's LANDSAT Data Continuity Mission - Thermal Infrared Sensor (LDCM-TIRS) require greater spatial resolution of the earth than the ~ 100m provided by the current instrument. Improving resolution to the desired ~ 30m requires increasing the number of pixels on target from the current 640x3 to ~ 2048x3. The TIRS instrument contains 640x512 longwave infrared quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane arrays (LWIR QWIP FPAs) jointly developed by NASA/GSFC and QmagiQ. QmagiQ proposes to achieve the higher pixel resolution while simultaneously improving quantum efficiency and operating temperature by using antimony-based strained layer superlattice (SLS) detectors. A key challenge is dealing with the effects of reducing pixel pitch from 25 microns down to ~ 10 microns, viz. optical fill-factor, optical crosstalk, processing difficulties, pixel operability, etc. As a stepping stone in Phase I, we developed and delivered an SLS FPA with 1280x1024 format on 12 micron pitch that achieved record performance, viz. > 40% quantum efficiency and dark current half of MCT Rule07 for FPAs with cutoff wavelength > 11 microns. In Phase II, we will increase FPA format to 2048x2048 and push cutoff wavelength to 12-13 microns while still hitting desired quantum efficiency and operating temperature targets in consultation with NASA/GSFC. Several FPAs will be delivered to NASA for evaluation.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
1) NASA's LANDSAT Data Continuity Mission - Thermal Infrared Sensor (LDCM-TIRS) 2) NASA's HyspIRI Mission - Multispectral thermal infrared (TIR) imager 3) Space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics 4) Chemical/spectral mapping of forests, vegetation, crops, and landmasses 5) Temperature mapping of oceans and landmasses 6) Atmospheric mapping 7) Pollution monitoring

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
1) Gas imaging (e.g. for the petrochemical industry) 2) Security and surveillance 3) Thermography 4) Medical imaging 5) Missile defense 6) Space-based situational awareness