EO/IR sensors development using zinc oxide and carbon nanostructures

EO/IR Sensors have been developed for a variety of Military Systems Applications. These include UV, Visible, SWIR, MWIR and LWIR Sensors. The conventional SWIR Sensors using InGaAs Focal Plane Array (FPA) can operate in 0.4 - 1.8 micron region. Similarly, MWIR Sensors use InSb and HgCdTe based FPA's that are sensitive in 3-5 and 8-14 micron region. DOD investments in the last 10 years have provided the necessary building blocks for the IR Sensors that are being deployed in the field. In this paper, we discuss recent developments and work under way to develop Next Generation nanostructure based EO/IR detectors that can potentially cover UV, Visible and IR regions of interest. The critical technologies being developed include ZnO nanostructures with wide band gap for UV detection and Carbon Nanostructures that have shown the feasibility for IR detection. Experimental results on ZnO based nanostructures demonstrate enhanced UV sensitivity and path forward for larger arrays. Similarly, recent works on carbon nanostructures have shown the feasibility of IR detection. Combining the two technologies in a sensor can provide multispectral capability.