This paper describes results from the Extremely High Temperature Photonic Crystal System Technology (XTEMPS) program. The XTEMPS program is developing projector technology based on photonic crystals capable of high dynamic range, multispectral emission from SWIR to LWIR, and realistic band widths. These Photonics Crystals (PhC) are fabricated from refractory materials to provide high radiance and long device lifetime. Cyan is teamed with Sandia National Laboratories, to develop photonics crystals designed for realistic scene projection systems and Nova sensors to utilize their advanced Read In Integrated Circuit (RIIC). PhC based emitters show improved in-band output power efficiency when compared to broad band "graybody" emitters due to the absence of out-of-band emission. Less electrical power is required to achieve high operating temperature, and the potential for nonequilibrium pumping exists. Both effects boost effective radiance output. Cyan has demonstrated pixel designs compatible with Nova's medium format RIIC, ensuring high apparent output temperatures, modest drive currents, and low operating voltages of less than five volts. Unit cell pixel structures with high radiative efficiency have been demonstrated, and arrays using PhC optimized for up to four spectral bands have been successfully patterned.

Date Published: 23 April 2010
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 7663, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XV, 766309 (23 April 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.852388

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7663:
Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XV
James A. Buford Jr.; Robert Lee Murrer Jr., Editor(s)