Low Light Short Wave Infrared Focal Plane Arrays

Imaging in low light conditions is very difficult as it requires a high sensitivity and low leakage current detector, very low detector and readout noise, a small pixel, and large format, attributes that are difficult to obtain simultaneously. To address the demanding requirements, The Nu-Trek Team is offering a short wave infrared (SWIR) low light sensor based on HgCdTe Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs). The HgCdTe APDs have very low leakage current and a very low excess noise factor that does not increase with gain, are highly linear, and can meet solicitation requirements. Nu-Trek is a supplier of enabling digital readout integrated circuits (DROICs) and will leverage a DROIC under development, reducing the risk and investment required to realize the Low Light Sensor.For the Low Light DROIC, the design under development will be modified to offer low effective noise, high dynamic range, and very low power, which reduces cooling requirements. The Low Light DROIC will have current limiting and will be designed to operate without catastrophic failures in high radiation environments.(Approved for Public Release 15-MDA-8482 (17 November 15))