Novel Concepts for Next Generation Infrared (IR) Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs)

Photon detectors operating at long and very long wavelength infrared detection suffer from high leakage currents because of the small band gap inherently needed at that spectral range. Typical formats of present ROICs are 320 x 256 with a pitch of 30 µm. Thus, the absolute impedance of the sensitive pixels is only in the range between 1 Mohm and 100 kohm. For detection longer than 18 µm the values are even lower. A custom ROIC is a required development for the type II superlattice FPA. This effort offers ROIC technology that also masks unwanted data from read-out. Qualifying data eliminates the flood of null data in the processing pipeline. The approach leverages existing efforts. The technology dramatically improved images while buying back bandwidth for discrimination. Phase I experiments will identify the specifications and technology gaps. The team offers internal research resources, direct leverage of existing funding and an integration path to a Smart FPA. In Phase II, an FPA manufacturer will help implement the ROIC advancement. Polaris is currently collaborating with commercial FPA manufacturers to port this technology into commercial systems. In Phase II technology gaps will be addressed and designs will be developed for the ROIC.