Advanced Readout Development for High Performance Corrugated Quantum Well Infrared Photoconductors Technology

Black Forest Engineering has developed readout integrated circuit (ROIC) methods that provide large charge integration capability in a small pixel pitch. A small pixel pitch allows high image resolution and large image formats with significant reduction in optics size and weight. The large charge capability results from in-pixel dark current pedestal subtraction and switched capacitor signal integration. During Phase I, BFE will demonstrate by design and analysis that pixel circuit modifications will provide low noise signal extraction compatible with corrugated quantum well infrared photoconductor (C-QWIP) operation at cryogenic temperatures. The readout pixel circuitry will be designed in a 15 µm pixel pitch with performance demonstrated in Phase I. On Phase II, this new pixel circuitry will be demonstrated in a larger format ROIC and hybridized to C-QWIP detector arrays. The Phase II ROIC will have on-chip ADC and support array size up to 2Kx2K at 60 Hz frame rates.