The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $750,000 - Tuesday the 10th of June 2014
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  IGF::OT::IGF OTHER FUNCTION - WE PROPOSE TO DESIGN A LOW NOISE, TWO-SIDE BUTTABLE, 64X64 READOUT MULTIPLEXER WITH THE FOLLOWING KEY DESIGN FEATURES: 1- BY FAR THE LARGEST READOUT ARRAY DEVELOPED FOR FAR IR DETECTORS TO DATE. FOUR OF THESE READOUT CAN BE BUTTED TOGETHER TO FORM A>16K-PIXEL MOSAIC ARRAY SATISFYING THE NEED OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS. 2- OPTIMIZED FOR USE WITH FAR INFRARED DETECTORS REQUIRING LOW BIAS LEVELS. THE UNIT-CELL DESIGN WILL MAINTAIN CONSTANT BIAS ACROSS THE DETECTOR DURING THE INTEGRATION ELIMINATING NON-LINEARITY AND DETECTOR DEBIASING. THE DESIGN WILL ALSO MINIMIZE PIXEL-TO-PIXEL DC VARIATIONS WHICH IMPROVES THE BIAS UNIFORMITY ACROSS ALL PIXELS OF THE ARRAY. 3- CAPABLE OF OPERATION AT CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES AT LEAST AS LOW AS 1.6K. ADVANCED MONOLITHIC CRYO-CMOS TECHNOLOGY WILL GUARANTEE DEEP CRYOGENIC OPERATION WITH MINIMAL IMPACT ON NOISE PERFORMANCE. 4- OFFERS THE POTENTIAL OF BEING DIRECTLY HYBRIDIZED TO IR DETECTOR ARRAYS USING PLANAR BUMP-BOND TECHNOLOGY. THIS TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED BY NASA AS WELL AS THE SCIENCE AND ASTRONOMY COMMUNITY AS KEY FOR FUTURE FAR IR ASTRONOMY. IT FITS WELL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE SBIR SUBTOPIC S1.04 AND WILL BE A BENEFIT TO MANY LARGE AND SMALL NASA MISSIONS INCLUDING SAFIR/CALISTO AND SOFIA.

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• $75,000 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WE PROPOSE TO FABRICATE A GERMANIUM BLOCKED-IMPURITY-BAND (BIB) DETECTOR USING A NOVEL PROCESS WHICH WILL ENABLE US TO: 1- FABRICATE A SUITABLY-DOPED ACTIVE LAYER USING THE WELL-ESTABLISHED BULK CRYSTAL-GROWTH PROCESS, WHICH GUARANTEES EXCELLENT DOPANT CONTROL AND EXTREMELY LOW COMPENSATING IMPURITIES, AND 2- GROW THE BLOCKING LAYER USING AN IMPLANT-PASSIVATION TECHNIQUE WHICH WILL PRODUCE THE REQUIRED HIGH PURITY AND A VERY SHARP TRANSITION FROM THE ACTIVE TO BLOCKING LAYER. THESE FEATURES ARE KEY IN DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF THE MULTI-LAYERED STRUCTURE OF BIBS, AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION AND QUALITY ARE CRUCIAL IN OPTIMUM OPERATION OF THESE DETECTORS. THE PROPOSED PROCESS IS A DRASTIC DEPARTURE FROM CONVENTIONAL EPITAXIAL METHODS, SUCH AS CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION AND LIQUID PHASE EPITAXY, WHICH HAVE YET TO PRODUCE FAR IR BIBS SUITABLE FOR ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS. GERMANIUM BIBS WILL OFFER EXTENDED WAVELENGTH RESPONSE UP TO AT LEAST 200 M, HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY, HIGH IMMUNITY TO IONIZING RADIATION, AND ELIMINATION OF LONG-TERM TRANSIENT AND MEMORY EFFECTS. COUPLED WITH THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH SI CRYO-CMOS READOUT MULTIPLEXERS AND THE PLANAR, BUMP-BOND HYBRIDIZATION PROCESS, THESE DETECTORS WILL MAKE POSSIBLE THE CONSTRUCTION OF LARGE FORMAT, HIGH SENSITIVITY FPAS FOR FAR IR ASTRONOMY AND WILL REPLACE THE CURRENT UNSTRESSED AND STRESSED GERMANIUM DETECTORS.

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• $200,000 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WE PROPOSE TO FABRICATE A GERMANIUM BLOCKED-IMPURITY-BAND (BIB) DETECTOR USING A NOVEL PROCESS WHICH WILL ENABLE US TO: 1- FABRICATE A SUITABLY-DOPED ACTIVE LAYER USING THE WELL-ESTABLISHED BULK CRYSTAL-GROWTH PROCESS, WHICH GUARANTEES EXCELLENT DOPANT CONTROL AND EXTREMELY LOW COMPENSATING IMPURITIES, AND 2- GROW THE BLOCKING LAYER USING AN IMPLANT-PASSIVATION TECHNIQUE WHICH WILL PRODUCE THE REQUIRED HIGH PURITY AND A VERY SHARP TRANSITION FROM THE ACTIVE TO BLOCKING LAYER. THESE FEATURES ARE KEY IN DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF THE MULTI-LAYERED STRUCTURE OF BIBS, AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION AND QUALITY ARE CRUCIAL IN OPTIMUM OPERATION OF THESE DETECTORS. THE PROPOSED PROCESS IS A DRASTIC DEPARTURE FROM CONVENTIONAL EPITAXIAL METHODS, SUCH AS CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION AND LIQUID PHASE EPITAXY, WHICH HAVE YET TO PRODUCE FAR IR BIBS SUITABLE FOR ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS. GERMANIUM BIBS WILL OFFER EXTENDED WAVELENGTH RESPONSE UP TO AT LEAST 200 M, HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY, HIGH IMMUNITY TO IONIZING RADIATION, AND ELIMINATION OF LONG-TERM TRANSIENT AND MEMORY EFFECTS. COUPLED WITH THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH SI CRYO-CMOS READOUT MULTIPLEXERS AND THE PLANAR, BUMP-BOND HYBRIDIZATION PROCESS, THESE DETECTORS WILL MAKE POSSIBLE THE CONSTRUCTION OF LARGE FORMAT, HIGH SENSITIVITY FPAS FOR FAR IR ASTRONOMY AND WILL REPLACE THE CURRENT UNSTRESSED AND STRESSED GERMANIUM DETECTORS.

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• $125,000 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A 64X64 FAR INFRARED GERMANIUM FOCAL-PLANE ARRAY WITH THE FOLLOWING KEY DESIGN FEATURES: 1- FOUR TOP-ILLUMINATED, 32X32 GERMANIUM SUB-ARRAYS WILL BE TILED TOGETHER TO FORM A 64X64 MOSAIC ARRAY. GERMANIUM OFFERS VERY LOW NOISE AND PROVEN PERFORMANCE IN THE 50-140?M RANGE. 2- THE ARRAY WILL USE FOUR SB349 CTIA READOUT MULTIPLEXERS WHICH ARE MANUFACTURED USING ADVANCED CRYO-CMOS PROCESS. THE UNIT-CELL DESIGN IS OPTIMIZED FOR FAR IR DETECTORS, ELIMINATES DETECTOR DEBIASING, AND IMPROVES PIXEL UNIFORMITY. THE READOUT IS OPERATIONAL DOWN TO AT LEAST 1.6K. 3- A NOVEL, LAYERED-HYBRID DESIGN USING PLANAR BUMP-BOND TECHNOLOGY WILL BE EMPLOYED TO ASSEMBLE THE FOCAL PLANE. THIS INTEGRATED DESIGN OFFERS SUPERIOR NOISE PERFORMANCE AND EFFECTIVELY ADDRESSES THE READOUT GLOW, DETECTOR HEATING, AND THERMAL MISMATCH BETWEEN THE DETECTOR AND THE READOUT. IN ADDITION TO THE LARGE FORMAT, THIS IS THE KEY DISCRIMINATOR OF THIS PROJECT. THIS IS BY FAR THE LARGEST FAR IR PHOTODETECOR ARRAY PRODUCED WITH PROJECTED SENSITIVITY OF 1X10E-18 W/ HZ. THIS EFFORT FITS WELL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE SBIR SUBTOPIC S4.01 AND WILL BE A BENEFIT TO ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION OF NASA?S ASTRONOMICAL MISSIONS, IN PARTICULAR SOFIA.

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