A -- Request for Information (RFI) for New Optical System Technologies

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Special Projects Office (DARPA/SPO) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) on technologies enabling a large-optical system with an electronically scanned instantaneous field-of-view (FOV) over a field-of-regard (FOR) many times greater. For traditional optical designs, the FOV is inversely proportional to the optic size given a constant focal plane array. As the optic size increases for better sensitivity and/or resolution, the FOV narrows and the increased optic weight severely impacts the mechanical slew rates—with a commensurate reduction in area coverage rate. In a large-optic system, the average time per beam position is dominated by the time required to slew and settle the optic. The current state-of-the-art for a 0.5-m optic with a 4 FOV is approximately 0.5 seconds of average time per beam position – primarily slew/settle with negligible integration time and the focal plane array (FPA) read time occurring during repositioning. This number grows to 10 seconds or more as either the optic or the FOR grows. DARPA is looking for a 20dB improvement in the average time per beam position while maintaining the sensitivity and resolution of the large-optic with the affordability of a small EO/IR focal plane. Such a system would enable a ≥90° FOR day/night wide-area optical GMTI search-while-track design producing high-resolution images for target identification while providing high area coverage rates for search-while-track on thousands of targets and high-revisit rates for precision tracks on tens of targets. To achieve this performance, the average time per beam position falls to approximately 5 milliseconds and is now dominated by the integration and FPA read times. Enabling technologies may include: innovative compact optical designs; light-weight mirrors; novel electronic shutters/baffles; high-lambda, wide-bandwidth deformable mirrors; electrically or optically addressed surface coatings (i.e. suspended particle devices or phase-change materials); large/curved/inexpensive focal plane arrays; micro-mechanical cryocoolers; and novel mechanically-steered optics (silicone elastomers, carbon nanotube “muscles.”) DARPA/SPO requests potential performers submit concepts and technologies to be considered during the formulation of the planned solicitation. DARPA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to provide compensation for the information solicited. DARPA does intend to issue a formal solicitation in FY05. Responses should be concise and clearly describe the technologies as applied to this particular problem. All submissions should be clearly marked to ensure proprietary or competition sensitive information is appropriately identified. DARPA/SPO expects all responses to be unclassified, but will accept classified responses with prior coordination. All submissions should be provided in MSWord (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format either by e-mail or CD-ROM to DARPA, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203, Attn: Tim Clark, SPO, telephone: 703-812-1975, [email protected]. Responses are requested by close of business on 1 December 2004.