MULTISPECTRAL INFRARED DETECTION FOR ASTRONOMY AND ATMOSPHERIC STUDIES IN AN ESTABLISHED METHOD OF DISCRIMINATING SCENE DETAIL.

MULTISPECTRAL INFRARED DETECTION FOR ASTRONOMY AND ATMOSPHERIC STUDIES IN AN ESTABLISHED METHOD OF DISCRIMINATING SCENE DETAIL. UNFORTUNATELY, THE CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUE OF USING A SINGLE TYPE OF DETECTOR ARRAY WITH MECHANICALLY SWITCHED SPECTRAL FILTERS DOES NOT YIELD OPTIMUM SENSITIVITY NOR CLOSE TEMPORAL CORRELATION OF SPECTRAL INFORMATION. THE IDEAL INFRARED FOCAL PLANE CONFIGURATION CONSISTS OF SEPARATELY TAILORED DETECTOR ARRAYS ON A COMMON SUBSTRATE. THE PROGRAM ADDRESSES DUAL COLOR DETECTOR ARRAYS ON A SINGLE SUBSTRATE AS A MEANS TO ENHANCE MULTISPECTRAL SCANNER PERFORMANCE. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE ISSUES OF PRECISE ARRAY PLACEMENT AND COMPATIBILITY OF FABRICATION PROCESSES FOR THE TWO TYPES OF DETECTOR ARRAYS. IN GENERAL, LARGE DETECTOR ARRAYS WILL REQUIRE SOME ON-FOCAL PLANE SIGNAL PROCESSING; THEREFORE THE DETECTOR ARRAYS INVESTIGATED IN THIS PROGRAM ARE DESIGNED SO THAT THEY CAN READILY BE INCORPORATED WITH AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT ELECTRONICS CHIP. AT A LATER DATE, THIS FEATURE WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN MORE DETAIL. THE FIRST PHASE OF A LONG-TERM PROGRAM ADDRESSES NOT ONLY PROCESS PROBLEMS OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES OF DETECTOR ARRAYS, BUT ALSO ADDRESSES COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE DETECTOR PROCESSES AND THE SUBSTRATES AND LEAD METALIZATIONS WHICH ARE REQUIRED FOR OPERATION OF THE DETECTOR ARRAYS.