The American Institute of Manufacturing Integrated Photonics — AIM Photonics — has announced the University of Arizona as the recipient for a new defense department government directed project for photonic integrated circuit (PIC) data links for cryongenic focal plane arrays.

The $1,200,000 U.S. Department of Defense project, along with an additional $400,000 in matching funds from a team led by the University of Arizona, will support a consortium that includes Sandia National Labs, Raytheon and other aerospace firms engaged in FPA technology. The project will encompass the design, fabrication and test of cryogenic PIC-based datalinks for FPA readout and has the potential to strongly advance imaging capabilities for national defense applications.