Intevac to Develop Camera for Army

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 19 -- The Photonics Technology Division of Intevac Inc. has received a contract from the US Army to produce an integrated camera for surveillance and targeting. Funding for the project will be shared by the US Army, the Air Force and Intevac, it will cost $10,892,044 over a two-year period, Intevac said.
The contract was awarded by the Dual Use Science and Technology program, in which the government works with industries to fund and develop the technology needed to preserve US superiority on the battlefield while allowing industry to stay competitive in the marketplace.
The project involves two steps. The first is the development of the low-light level surveillance and targeting camera system. Intevac will work with the Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) division. They will use Electron Bombarded Active Pixel Sensor (EBAPS) technology to create three technological aspects of the camera: transferred electron EBAPS camera development, the CMOS APS chip development to support the camera, and thermal hardening of the TE photocathode to accomplish military and industrial storage temperature conditions.
The second step involves the development of manufacturing technology to reduce fabrication costs of the transferred electron photocathode tube, which is the chief component of the camera. Manufacturing processes to increase the yield of component parts will have to be developed; along with improvement of the component assembly process; and increasing total component fabrication and assembly.