A SOLID-STATE VISIBLE AND INFRARED MULTIPLIER

THE SOLID-STATE VISIBLE AND INFRARED MULTIPLIER (SVIRM) DETECTOR WILL AMPLIFY THE SIGNAL FROM A SINGLE VISIBLE OR INFRARED PHOTON, ABOVE READOUT NOISE, WITH LOW DARK-CURRENT, MAKING THE PHOTON DETECTABLE. THE SVIRM USES A NOVEL SILICON STRUCTURE. THE ADVANTAGES OVER CONTEMPORARY STATE DETECTORS ARE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LESS NOISE; ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LOWER DARK CURRENT; COMPATIBILITY WITH SILICON, SENSE-CAPACITOR READOUT ARRAYS; AND GOOD RESPONSIVITY UNIFORMITY WHICH IS COMPATIBLE WITH STARING ARRAY CONFIGURATIONS. THE MWIR/VLWIR-SVIRM LARGEST DYNAMIC BAND REACHES OVER 10E14 PH/CME2-SEC. SVIRM WILL BE A PRACTICAL DEVICE FOR DETECTOR INFRARED DETECTORS. THERE IS NO COMPARABLE, ARRAY-COMPATIBLE, MWIR/VLWIR DETECTOR AVAILABLE FOR USE AT VERY LOW PHOTON FLUXES, WHERE SINGLE PHOTON DETECTION IS DESIRABLE, AS WELL AS FOR USE AT THE HIGHER PHOTON FLUXES POSSIBLE IN NEAR TARGET ENCOUNTERS AND HIGHER BACKGROUND SCENARIOS.