The CASTLE project builds on earlier Space Industrial Base Working Group (SIBWG) voting member recommended and co-funded projects to characterize performance and improve yields of medium and large format Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) (4k x 4k and 8k x 8k 10um pitch respectively). The performance and manufacturing improvements focus on: (1) mixed signal CMOS nodes for Read-out Integrated Circuits (ROICs), (2) MBE grown Infrared (IR) detector material, and (3) hybridization and other integral processing steps associated with the build-up of FPAs. The principal focus of the overarching CASTLE effort is to ensure timely and reliable supply of space-qualified IR FPAs, and to demonstrate and quantitatively characterize manufacturing processes, from a minimum of two (2) but preferably three (3) domestic suppliers deemed useful for U.S. Government (USG) space applications. Emphasis will be placed on a) completing the Research and Development (R&D) associated with yielding devices with performance and quantities required to enable various proliferated constellations under consideration by the USG, and b) demonstrating improved manufacturability of FPAs intended for the proliferated and exquisite Electro-Optical (EO) systems, including production and delivery of a limited number of FPAs. The intent is that the FPA suppliers who have product improvements funded under the CASTLE effort, shall make their products equally available to all prime contractors.
