HWO Detector Technology Maturation Studies
Overview
Columbus Technologies and Services, Inc., in support of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Technology Maturation Project Office (TMPO), has completed the evaluation of proposals submitted in response to the HWO Detector Technology Maturation Study Request for Proposals.
Scope of Interest
The objective of this effort is to advance promising detector technologies toward Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 and support future technology development activities for the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
Selected Study Awards
The following organizations have been selected to perform detector technology maturation studies:
| Institution | Principal Investigator | Study Title |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | Mike Bottom | TRL5 Qualification of Large-Format Linear-Mode Avalanche Photodiode Arrays |
| SwRI | Camden Ertley | Large-Format Far-Ultraviolet Microchannel Plate Detector Development for the Habitable Worlds Observatory |
| University of Chicago | Juan Estrada | A Full-Solution Maturation Plan for Photon-Counting p-Channel CCD Detector Systems for the Habitable Worlds Observatory |
| UCSB | Ben Mazin | Air Bridged Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors: Energy Resolving, Single Photon Counting Arrays for the HWO Visible and Near-IR Coronagraph |
| STA | Gregory Bredthauer | STA HWO Detector Maturation Proposal |
| BAE | Alex Harwit | Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) e-APD Detector Maturation Study |
| University of Arizona | Jarron Leisenring | Advancing Radiation-Tolerant (Skipper) qCCDs for HWO’s UV/Vis Flight Instruments |
| APL | Arika Egan | CMOS CIS304 Advancement for Large Format NUV/Vis HWO Instruments |
| RIT | Don Figer | Advancing VIS Single-Photon Sensing CMOS Image Sensors for the HWO Coronagraph |
| MIT (Kavli Institute) | Kevin Burdge | Deep-Sub-Electron-Read-Noise (DSERN) CMOS Image Sensor for Visible Single-Photon Counting |
Questions and Answers
Q: In the VIS coronagraph performance targets, the operability requirement is listed as “>95% per exposure, includes CR.” Can you please specify under what conditions a pixel in the detector would be considered inoperable? To be “operable”, must a pixel meet all of the other requirements (QE, effective noise rate) and avoid having a CR in the exposure? Or does “inoperable” have a more relaxed definition, including malfunctioning pixels, those with severely out-of-spec performance, and those struck by CRs?
A: The definition of “Inoperable” pixels would use a slightly relaxed threshold compared to the performance targets listed in the RFP. For example, the read noise could be a factor of 2 higher than the performance target, QE 30% lower than the median pixel QE, etc. The exact thresholds for an inoperable pixel have not been determined. If you use a cutoff for inoperable pixels other than the performance target listed in the RFP, be sure to document the thresholds you use among the relevant assumptions in the report.
Questions and Inquiries
Please use the form below to submit any questions.
Acknowledgment
Columbus Technologies and Services thanks all organizations that submitted proposals and contributed to this highly competitive study selection process. The HWO TMPO looks forward to working with the selected teams as these technologies advance toward future mission needs.