Spire Corp.,
Bedford, MA, has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force`s Wright Laboratory Armament Directorate, Wright-Patterson afb, OH, to develop sensitive, high-speed, extended indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) avalanche photodiodes. The diodes will be used at wavelengths as long as 2.3 microns. The program will see Spire adapt its commercial InGaAs power converter technology toward the development of working prototypes. The diodes could be applied to optical communications, laser radar, remote sensing, and spectroscopy.