ASC-2004

ADVANCED OPTICAL FUZING TECHNOLOGY

Christian M. von der Lippe*
U.S. Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center
AMSRD-AAR-AEP-F(A), Adelphi, MD 20783

J. Jiang Liu, Keith Aliberti, Gerard Dang, Wayne Chang, Paul Shen, and George Simonis
U.S. Army Research Laboratory, AMSRD-ARL-SE-EM, Adelphi, MD 20783


ABSTRACT
The intended targets (both area or point) can be
painted with an extremely narrow spot or a large-area
beam depending on the application. Keeping a focused
and directive targeting source is the major advantage of
the optical approach over other fuzing technologies. This
narrow beam allows for a direct fire and flat fire feature
difficult to accomplish with other types of proximity
fuzing schemes. The common RF approach has difficulty
eliminating peripheral ground clutter while still sensing
the target directly in front of the munition. This clutter
resolving capability makes optical fuzing ideal for
ordinance traveling near the earths surface. OF is ideal
for missiles or gun-fired munitions requiring standoffs in
munition functions at ranges in the 10s of meters or closer
with very high range resolution.
We are developing a robust, compact, and affordable
photonic proximity sensor for munition fuze applications.
Successful implementation of this sensor will provide a
new capability for direct fire applications. The photonic
component development exploits pioneering work and
unique expertise at ARDEC, ARL, and Sandia National
Laboratories by combining key optoelectronic
technologies to design and demonstrate components for
this fuzing application [Ruff, et al. 1994; Stann, et al.
1996; Simonis, et al. 2000; Liu, et al. 2000]. The
technologies employed in the optical fuze design are
vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), the p-i-
n or metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors,
and miniature lenses optics. This work will culminate in
a robust, fully integrated, g-hardened component design
suitable for proximity fuzing applications. This compact
sensor will replace costly assemblies that are based on
discrete lasers, photodetectors, and bulk optics. It will be
mass manufacturable and impart huge savings for such
applications. The specific application under investigation
is for gun-fired munitions. Nevertheless, numerous
civilian uses exist for this proximity sensor in automotive,
robotics and aerospace applications. This technology is
also applicable to robotic ladar and short-range 3-D
imaging.

An OF system consists of a laser transmitter, an
optical receiver, and corresponding electronic signal
processors. Figure 1 illustrates a typical implementation
of an OF for a gun-fired projectile. Mounted on the front
of the projectile, the laser transmits a highly collimated
beam that is amplitude modulated with a chirped RF
signal at frequency f
RF
. Photoreceivers are installed on
the side of the projectile with their electrical bias
modulated at the same time-dependent operational
frequency as the transmitted optical signal. As the
photoreceivers pick up the reflected optical signal from
the target, the on-board signal processor heterodynes
1. INTRODUCTION

Recent developments in Optical Fuzing technology
provided relevant advancement for its application in
precision weapons for the Future Combat System
ordinance. Optical Fuzing (OF) is a promising alternative
approach to standoff fuzing traditionally using RF or
RADAR sensing techniques in situations where a highly
directional sensor is called for. The inherent directivity of
laser emission provides a means of actively sensing
targets in cluttered environments. The ability to achieve
narrow beam focus allows OF to be used in direct fire
munitions. This technology can provide precision Fuzing
for both short and long standoff engagements with
extremely accurate resolution. Since the laser emission is
well focused, the system can remain stealthy and not
easily detected or countered from peripheral locations.
Collimating
Photodetector
Lenses
Laser
Transmitter
Reflected
target signal S&A
Window
Electronics Battery
Boards/Processing
Fig. 1. Illustration of an Optical Fuze for a gun-
fired projectile.
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U.S. Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center
AMSRD-AAR-AEP-F(A), Adelphi, MD 20783; U.S. Army Research
Laboratory, AMSRD-ARL-SE-EM, Adelphi, MD 20783
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Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18
(mixes) it with a portion of the delayed transmitted
waveform. A distinguished intermediate frequency f
IF
(or
beat frequency) corresponding to the time delay due to the
travel time of the light. Measurement of the f
IF
yields
directly the range information of the target. In the case of
MSM detector, the mixing is achieved by applied the
transmitted chirped signal as a bias to the detector.

Figure 2 shows an example of such a frequency-
modulated continuous wave (FM-CW) operation. The
transmitted laser beam is operated a frequency f
RF
with a
triangular chirping modulation of f over a time period of
T. The time delay between the transmitted and reflected
waveforms from the target will be =2(D/c), where D is
the distance from the sensor to the target and c is the
speed of the light. The range of the target can be
determined in the following relation with measured f
IF
: f

f
IF
=

T
f
T
f
c
D
c
) ( 4D
) 2 )(
2
(
(1)

f
IF
Such a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FM-
CW) operation provides good resolution in both range and
frequency over the waveform domain. The corresponding
electronic schematic of an OF system is illustrated in
Figure 3. An advanced high-power vertical-cavity
surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is employed as the
optical transmitter and p-i-n photodiode is employed as
the photoreceiver with the mixing process occurring in a
separate RF circuit. We are also investigating MSM
photodetectors with transimpedance amplifiers as
photoreceivers for a self-mixing detector to eliminate the
need for an electronic mixer. Such an architecture
combines the optical detection and RF mixing into one
component and has the advantage of small signal-to-noise
(S/N) ratio [Shen, et al, 2000].
= 2D/c

F
RF

f

t
T

Fig. 2. Waveforms showing the triangularly chirp
modulation frequency as a function of time for the
transmitted signal (solid) and the returning signal
(dashed) with a time delay .


2. VCSEL AND DETECTOR DEVELOPMENT

In the OF system, an advanced high-power VCSEL is
employed as the optical transmitter source. VCSELs
combine the capability of high-power output with the
superior quality of the laser beam as well as very low
fabrication and packaging costs. The laser beam output
from the transmitter can further be collimated or focused
using external miniature optics to achieve operational
requirement. VCSELs can also be readily flip-chip
hybridized onto associated electronics. MSM
photodetectors/mixers provide advantages of fast
I
Bias
Chirp
RF Power
Generator
Amp.
Power
Splitter
Laser
Transmitted Transimpedence
Trigger
signal Amplifier
Circuit
Bias
Mixer
PROM
Reference
Detector
Lowpass
Returned Filter
signal

Limiter
Mixer Lowpass Decision
Filter Circuit
Fig. 3. A block diagram of the electronics processing system for an Optical Fuze.
2
n-GaAs
Substrate
~
~ ~
~
(~500 m
Thick
Output
~
~ ~
~
Coupling
n-DBR
Optical Cavity
Mirror
Oxidized
MQW gain region Fig. 5. Micrograph of an InGaAs MSM
photodetector whose active area has 10 pairs of
interdigitated fingers and a finger spacing of 3 m.
layers
Back Mirror
p-DBR
p-Contact
~
~
~
~
Heatsink
2.2. InGaAs MSM photodetectors

Interdigitated-finger metal-semiconductor-metal
(MSM) devices have widely been used as high-speed
photodetectors due to their simple structure, high response
speed, low dark current, and processing compatibility
with other semiconductor devices [Aliberti, et al. 2004].
When used as a detector, a dc bias voltage is applied to
the MSM device. As photons are absorbed, electron-hole
pairs are created, and the conductivity of the
semiconductor increases. The detector operates by
registering the number of carriers swept out of the device
per unit time by the applied field, i.e., by measuring the
photocurrent. The electrodes are designed in such a way
as to maximize light transmission into the semiconductor
and, at the same time, minimize carrier transit time.
Interdigitated-finger MSM detectors can also be used as
optoelectronic (OE) mixers to generate radio-frequency
subcarriers in fiber-optic microwave links. When used as
a mixer, the intensity-modulated optical signal is
simultaneously detected and mixed with the modulated
electrical bias to obtain the difference frequency, f
if
. This
frequency conversion is obtained with an ac bias voltage
applied to the device, i.e., a local-oscillator (LO) signal.
Figure 5 illustrates a top view of a MSM photodetector
structure.
Fig. 4. The cross-sectional structure of a VCSEL
flip-chip bonded on a heat-sinking substrate.
responsivity and simplicity in structure and operation.
MSM photoreceivers can function as detectors and mixers
and operate directly in FM-CW mode with simplified
electronic circuits for signal processing.


2.1. 980-nmVCSEL Fabrication

The VCSEL heterostructures were grown by metal-
organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on an n
+
-
GaAs substrate [Geib, et al. 2002]. The VCSELs consist
of an active quantum-well gain region embedded between
two distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR). A more detailed
description of our VCSEL structure is provided in Figure
4 where it is portrayed in a flip-chip mount onto heat-
sinking or CMOS driver electronics substrates. The
typical mirror composition consists of a 36-period
GaAlAs/Al
0.9
Ga
0.1
As p-doped high-reflectivity DBR and
a 25-period GaAlAs/Al
0.9
Ga
0.1
As n-doped output DBR.
The active region consists of three undoped In
0.2
Ga
0.8
As
quantum wells and GaAs barriers, centered in
Al
0.4
Ga
0.6
As spacer layers to form a single-wavelength
cavity. The emission wavelengths for different VCSELs
with somewhat different quantum-well thicknesses are in
the range of 970 to 980 nm. Two Al
0.98
Ga
0.02
As layers are
placed in the VCSEL structures above and below the
active region for selective lateral oxidation to provide
optical and electrical confinement. A typical high-power
VCSEL device used in the present prototype fuze study
has a 40-m mesa diameter and a 18-m oxidized
aperture.


2.3. Characterization of VCSEL and PD Devices

Electrical current-voltage-optical power (I-V-L)
measurements for such devices showed a current
threshold between 4 to 5 mA and operating voltage of 1.5
to 2.5 volts. Such current threshold is quite acceptable for
the CMOS driving circuits that are used with the
VCSELs. The maxium dc output power achieved was
around 10 mW. The pulsed ac operation using 1 s
pulses demonstrated a power output of 40 mW. More
optical power output can be achieved by increasing the

3
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Injection Current (mA)
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
Sandia 980 nmVCSEL
P
o
w
e
r

O
u
t
p
u
t

(
m
W
)
Fig. 7. IV characteristics of a MSM photodetector.
Fig. 6. Current-Power and Current-Voltage
characteristics of a high-power VCSEL device.
size of the aperture and applying appropriate heat-sinking
techniques. Figure 6 shows the current-voltage-optical-
power characteristics of a such VCSEL device.

The wavelength of the VCSEL output was measured
to be 970 nm. GaAs-based MSM photodetectors are not
efficient enough for operation at this wavelength.
Standard InGaAs MSM photodetectors have an excessive
leakage current. It is therefore necessary to design an
optimized resonant-cavity InGaAs MSM structure. The
resonant-cavity MSM-PD OEM structure, grown via
molecular-beam epitaxial technology, consists of a 930
GaAs cap layer, a 1000 InGaAs absorption layer, a 930
GaAs layer, a 829 AlAs layer, and 15 layers each of
695 GaAs/829 AlAs (this is the DBR) all grown on a
GaAs substrate. The electrodes consist of Ti/Au Schottky
contacts deposited via electron-beam evaporation. The
electrodes have 1.5-m finger widths and 3-m spacings.

The intrinsic dark current-voltage (I-V)
characteristics for this MSM structures are shown in
figure 7. The figure shows the dark current for the metal
deposition directly on the top GaAs cap layer. Based on
these results, we decided to fabricate further devices with
the metal deposition directly on GaAs cap layer due to the
much lower dark current. One issue that might arise from
this type of fabrication is the degradation in mixing
efficiency due to the capacitance of the GaAs layer. Such
results have been observed in previously characterized
InGaAs-based MSMs with Schottky enhancement layers.


3. INTEGRATED OPTOELECTRONIC FUZES

The sensor in a proximity fuze for a missile or
projectile application initiates warhead detonation when
the projectile comes within a desired range from the target
where the warhead will produce maximum damage. For
optical sensors, range can be determined with geometric
and opto-electronic ranging technologies. The simplest
technology is geometric ranging, which relies on ranging
effects inherent in the limited transmitter/receiver overlap
regions or parallax in the field of view combined with an
appropriate amplitude threshold in the return signal.
Optical sensors have been built and fielded over the years
for a variety of applications using this approach.
However, it is not always possible to meet stringent
requirements using this geometric approach. When the
requirements cannot be met using this approach, the
solution is to use opto-electronic ranging. This approach
requires higher bandwidth components and greater signal
processing capabilities. Opto-electronic ranging is useful
to generate the ranging function for a long-range system
where the transmitter and receiver beams overlap for
considerable distances and geometric parallax systems
would have significant ambiguity.


4. OPERATION OF OPTICAL FUZES

The ranging theory applied for the optical fuze is an
adaptation of frequency modulation CW (FM-CW) radar
ranging principles. In the simplest sense, the laser
transmitter is amplitude modulated with a radio-frequency
sub carrier which itself is frequency modulated in time.
The target reflected light is incoherently detected with a
photodiode and converted into a voltage waveform
carrying the time-dependent time-delayed modulation
frequency of the return signal. This waveform is then
further processed to recover the target range, as shown in
equation (1) and the basic electronic block diagram of the
sensor architecture in figure 3.

The divergent laser beam is transmitted through a
lens that collimates the light and directs it toward the
target. A small portion of the transmitted light is reflected
4
Fig. 8. A block diagram of the ladar (laser radar) optical sensor system that applied to optical fuze.
from the target back toward the sensor, collected by a
lens, and focused down onto the active region of a
photodetector. The photodetector converts the incident
light power into a current waveform with amplitude
proportional to the light power, or equivalently, the
original chirp waveform. The current waveform is
converted into a voltage waveform by a wideband
transimpedance amplifier. The output of the amplifier is
mixed with an undelayed sample of the transmitted chirp
waveform and the output of the mixer is fed into a low
pass filter to recover an intermediate frequency (IF) signal
f
If
.

In most implementations of the sensor a trigger
circuit initiates the generation of a modulation waveform
that will persist for some time and cycle in a time period
of T. The chirp signal can be simply a sinusoidal
waveform whose frequency of modulation increases or
decreases over time, T. For the architecture described
here, the chirp signal may have a start frequency in the
tens to low hundreds of megahertz and a stop frequency in
the hundreds of megahertz. The difference between the
start and stop frequency, F, is chosen to establish the
desired range resolution R. It can be found that
R=c/(2F), where c is the velocity of light. The chirp
signal is fed into a wideband rf amplifier that modulates
the current driving a solid-state laser diode with
bandwidth at least equal to the chirp waveform.

A laboratory sensor was constructed to demonstrate
the concept viability. A block diagram of the ladar (laser
radar) optical sensor system that is suitable for the OF is
shown in figure 8. A section of the Multi-Option Fuze for
Artillery (MOFA) processor was used with an optical
transceiver. The MOFA processor generates a triangle
wave, which is used to modulate the output of a voltage-
controlled oscillator (VCO). The peak-to-peak level of
the wave determines the modulation bandwidth and the dc
level is used to set the center frequency. The result is a
FM-CW signal centered at 650MHz, with a bandwidth of
+/- 25MHz (frequencies used where for an
implementation of a lab prototype used for demonstration
purposes). The VCO output is divided using a power
splitter. Half of the signal is mixed with the target return
signal to produce an intermediate frequency (IF). The
remaining signal is amplified and used to modulate the
constant current source that drives the laser diode. An
FM-CW waveform is used to modulate the laser in order
to provide more accurate range resolution within the
processor. The bias tee circuit is used to provide an
impedance match between the amplifier and the laser.
The laser emits a beam of light, the intensity of which is
proportional to the drive current. The light is collimated
by a lens system onto the target. The transmitted light
reflects off the target and back to a second lens system,
which focuses the light onto the active region of the
photodetector. The photodiode produces a current, which
is proportional to the intensity of the return signal. This
current is converted into a voltage and amplified. The
amplified signal is mixed with a portion of the original
VCO output to produce the IF signal which is processed
by the MOFA circuit to determine target range.

5
6
5. SUMMARY

To date we have demonstrated a lab system capable
of ranging to 25 meters with commercially available
edge-emitting laser and photodiodes. With these
commercial parts greater distances are achievable with
higher power laser source with larger optical apertures.
However, for this fuzing application and given packaging
and size constraints, neither path is available as a solution.
We have collected results on VCSEL and MSM
components to exploit these devices. Selected
components have been flight-tested and air gun tests have
demonstrated survivability performance to 40 KGs
acceleration. The commercially available components do
not meet our long-term power efficiency and bandwidth
requirements needed to realize adequate performance.
They also fall short in cost and size requirements. Our
goal is to capitalize on VCSELs and MSM photodetectors
advancement to produce a compact, low-cost gun-rugged
optical fuze.


REFERENCES

W. C. Ruff, B. L. Stann, Christian M. von der Lippe,
Ladar Sensor Candidates for a Short Standoff Fuze,
ARL report, (May 19, 1994).
B. L. Stann, W. C. Ruff, and Z. G. Sztankay, Intensity-
modulated diode laser radar using frequency-
modulation/continuous-wave ranging techniques,
Opt. Eng., Vol. 35, No. 11, pp.3270-3278 (Nov.
1996).
G. J. Simonis, H. Pollehn, G. Sztankay, G. Wood, J.
Pamulapati, and J. Mait, Optoelectronics research at
the Army Research Laboratory, Proc. SPIE,
Photodetector Materials and Devices V, Vol. 3948,
San Jose, CA (Jan 22-28, 2000).
J. Liu, B. Lawler, B. Riely, M. Taysing-Lara, K. Olver,
W. Chang, and G. J. Simonis, CMOS-driven
VCSEL-Detector Optoelectronic Interconnects for
Parallel Digital Data Transmission and Processing,
Proc. of 2000 SPIE AeroSense Symposium, Vol.
4046, pp.130- (April, 2000).
P. H. Shen, et. al, Interdigitated finger semiconductor
photodetector for optoelectronic mixing, Proc. SPIE,
Vol. 4028, pp.426-435 (2000).
K. M. Geib, K. D. Choquette, D. K. Serkland, A. A.
Allerman, T. W. Hargett, Fabrication and
performance of two-dimensional matrix addressable
arrays of integrated vertical-cavity lasers and
resonant cavity photodetectors, IEEE Journal of
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 8, No.
4, pp.943-947 (July-Aug. 2002).
K. Aliberti, W. Ruff, H. Shen, P. Newman, M. Giza, W.
Sarney, M. Stead, J. Damman, R. Mehandru, and F.
Ren, Charactrization of InGaAs self-mixing
detectors for chirp, amplitude-modulated LADAR,
Laser Radar Technology and Applications IX, SPIE
Vol. 5412, pp. 99-110 (2004)


Keywords:

VCSEL, MSM photodetector, optical fuze, ranging,
mixing, optoelectronic processing.