The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gave Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] phase 1 of the $37-million Terahertz (THz) Electronics contract, the company announced.
That will support military and space satellites with the development of active receivers and transmitters operating at 670 gigahertz that ensure reliable, high-resolution images, and other applications.
The THz Electronics program is an extension of the $7.7-million phase one of development on the Sub-millimeter Wave Imaging Focal Plane Technology (SWIFT) program for DARPA.
SWIFT demonstrated the first active components, such as oscillators and amplifiers (low-noise and power) operating at 340 GHz, enabling systems for high-resolution imaging at sub-millimeter frequencies in all types of weather environments encountered by space and defense satellites.
Work on the THz Electronics program will move even higher in frequency, starting at 650 GHz this year. As with SWIFT, the program is conducted by the Army Research Laboratory.