Smart Readout Integrated Circuit for Dual Band Infrared Focal Plane Arrays

This proposal outlines a large-format small-pitch low-power digital pixel readout integrated circuit (DPROIC) for dual-band infrared focal plane arrays to achieve high sensitivity, high resolution, large dynamic range, low noise, large field of view and fast data rate. This digital pixel readout will be a complete camera-on-chip architecture when combined with single or dual polarity dual band detectors in a hybrid fashion. It will have a wide operating temperature range from cryogenic to room temperature to support a broad range of detector architectures. This readout circuit will also be radiation tolerant to survive harsh man-made and natural radiation environments, including high energy particles and photons to prevent catastrophic system failure. The proposed DPROIC will be implemented in a mature CMOS process with much more reasonable mask costs as compared to that of state-of-the-art line width processes, saving the government money and broadening the possible supplier base. The final product will be flexible enough to be used as a generic readout integrated circuit for a broad range of missile defense applications.