CRANBURY, N.J., 3 June 2008. Princeton Lightwave Inc. in Cranbury, N.J., and Nextreme Thermal Solutions Inc. in Durham, N.C., are working together develop a shortwave infrared (SWIR) focal plane sensor with thermoelectric cooling.

The solution is based on Princeton Lightwave's indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) focal plane arrays and Nextreme's thermal bump technology. Company officials say the new technology will reduce power consumption and weight, improve overall performance, and enable wide deployment of SWIR sensors for night vision.

InGaAs shortwave infrared sensors are of interest to the military as they are digital devices that can be networked. They are sensitive to the nightglow radiation at 1.6-micron wavelengths, enabling operation in total darkness. Additionally, this part of the spectrum is eye-safe, allowing use of laser illuminators invisible to current night vision devices.

Detector performance is usually limited by thermally-generated noise, which can be reduced by cooling. The two companies are working on integrating thin-film thermoelectric coolers with focal plane arrays to provide night vision imaging solutions.

For more information, contact Princeton Lightwave online at www.princetonlightwave.com, or Nextreme at www.nextreme.com.