Design of RoomTemperature THz and Infrared Sensing Devices Using Non-Toxic, Supply-Chain Secure Material Platform

Infrared sensing sits at an inflection point. The industry-standard HgCdTe (MCT) requires bulky cryogenic cooling and is built on toxic, supply-chain-fragile elements, while uncooled microbolometers, are limited to millisecond response times. This leaves unaddressed the regime of fast, uncooled, low-SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power, and Cost) detection from the long-wave infrared (LWIR) through the THz, which hypersonic threat warning, proliferated drone platforms, and contested-spectrum operations now demand. Recently, new mechanisms have emerged that can fill this important technical gap. Oxychalcogenide films containing heavy elements have characteristic responses in the THz range [1-3] and can enable ms-scale detection responses in the THz and far-infrared spectral regions, e.g., hot-electron rectification/photothermoelectrics, thermally decoupled from the lattice of heavy elements [4-6]. Notably, these phenomena do not require cryogenic cooling like the MCT system because the signal is not based on an inter-band transition, and its response is orders of magnitude faster than that of room-temperature bolometers because it is driven by hot electrons decoupled from the lattice. Moreover, these materials, such as Bi2O2Se and InBiSe3, are composed of non-toxic, earth-abundant elements, and are supply-chain-secure material platforms. Department of War’s investments through the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) have already enabled the development of high-mobility chalcogenide films and their characterization via optical and THz spectroscopy [1–3]. Building on this, oxychalcogenide films can serve as room-temperature detectors offering uncooled, chip-scale access to the jam-free THz and far-infrared bands — a regime current sensor technologies cannot reach without cryogenic cooling — and will directly advance Quantum and Battlefield Information Dominance. Moreover, the hot-electron mechanism is fast, which allows detection of ms transients such as laser pulses and hypersonic signatures that slow uncooled microbolometers wash out.

Program: STTR, Phase I and Phase II Agency: Department of War, Office of the Secretary of Defense Topic number: OSW26TZ06-NV006 Solicitation: 26.TZ Released September 2, 2026; proposals accepted from September 23, 2026 Closes October 21, 2026. Check the official solicitation for the exact due time. Award type: contract, not a grant. Official solicitation: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/ Listed on SBIR.gov: https://www.sbir.gov/topics/12995. SBIR.gov copies agency solicitations and can lag behind them; the official solicitation is the final word.

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