Advanced Photonix Inc. awarded ARPA and Navy contract to develop ultimate mine detector.CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 1995--Advanced Photonix Inc. (ASE (Adaptive Server Enterprise) A relational DBMS from Sybase that runs on Windows NT/2000, Linux and a variety of Unix platforms. ASE is a comprehensive and robust data management product with a long history dating back to the late 1980s. :API) Thursday announced that it has been awarded a $1.1 million contract over three years to develop an airborne sensor for underwater mine detection. The work will be sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Pentagon, and the Aircraft Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center The Naval Air Warfare Center was a former U.S. Navy military installation located in Warminster, Pennsylvania and Ivyland, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Navy purchased the grounds to establish this facility from the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation following its bankruptcy in the . The sensor will be made from Advanced Photonix's proprietary Large Area Avalanche Photodiode Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are photodetectors that can be regarded as the semiconductor analog to photomultipliers. By applying a high reverse bias voltage (typically 100-200 V in silicon), APDs show an internal current gain effect (around 100) due to impact ionization (avalanche (LAAPD) technology. Detecting mines floating below the ocean's surface is critical to naval strategy Naval strategy is the planning and conduct of warfare at sea, the naval equivalent of military strategy on land. Naval strategy, and the related concept of maritime strategy, concerns the overall strategy for achieving victory at sea, including the planning and conduct of . It was determined during Operation Desert Storm Noun 1. Operation Desert Storm - the United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991) Gulf War, Persian Gulf War - a war fought between Iraq and a coalition led by the United States that freed Kuwait from Iraqi invaders; that underwater mine detection capability needed to be improved. In the future, the Navy will use aircraft to fly over stretches of ocean at high speeds, aiming lasers to probe below the surface. Reflections will be detected by the Advanced Photonix LAAPD sensors mounted on board the aircraft, replacing the slower method of sweeping for mines from sensors mounted on naval vessels. With airborne LAAPD sensors, the same amount of ocean will be covered in a fraction of the time. The Large Area APDs will detect underwater mines far more accurately than conventional detectors like the photomultiplier tube A vacuum tube that converts light into electrical energy and amplifies it. Photomultiplier tubes are used in high-end drum scanners, because they are more sensitive to light than the CCD elements used in lower-cost devices. , or PMT See photomultiplier tube. . LAAPDs can detect a wider range of signals more accurately than PMTs. LAAPDs are also more rugged than PMTs, essential for sensors mounted externally to military aircraft. In announcing the award, James W. Ward, chairman of the board of Advanced Photonix, commented: ``Our technology makes sense to the Pentagon in a variety of ways. We offer the sensitivity of PMT- based sensors with the convenience and low cost of solid-state technology. ``In an era where new military technologies may not meet congressional budgets, LAAPD-based sensors are an affordable exception, and we are proving that by winning both commercial and military contracts.'' The proposed program has broad-based benefits beyond mine detection for the Navy. The basic capability under development is a new generation of camera built around a multi-element LAAPD sensor. Present cameras built around conventional detectors are slower and less sensitive to light. The advanced capability of an APD APD atrial premature depolarization (see atrial premature complex, under complex ); pamidronate. camera may lead to new military and commercial applications, like advanced night vision, medical imaging and biomedical research. Advanced Photonix is a high technology growth company which designs and manufactures opto-electronic semiconductor-based components and hybrid assemblies, including proprietary solid- state silicon large area avalanche photodiodes. CONTACT: Advanced Photonix Inc. Patrick J. Holmes, 805/987-0146 |
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