Thanks to their high technology readiness level, quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP) provide an efficient and swift solution for meeting the increased demand for advanced LWIR imaging systems. IRnova’s present portfolio includes QWIP detectors for LWIR dual-colour, gas detection, and polarimetric imaging on 30 and 15 μm pitch, while the development of large-format HD arrays on 10 μm pitch is ongoing.
In this work, the latest advancements for LWIR QWIP detectors (peak absorption at 8.5 μm) are presented: firstly, focusing on the progress on HD-format detectors on 10 μm pitch and secondly, presenting the enhanced polarization contrast in IRnova’s VGA-format polarimetric detector Fenrir (640×512 on 15 μm pitch). In the new Fenrir, the polarization contrast has increased from ~25% to ~40%, resulting in improved tracing of the polarimetric signatures as visualized by field tests. Furthermore, by employing array-wide pixel-level spectroscopy, excellent spatial uniformity across detector arrays has been confirmed.
In this paper, the first extended SWIR (eSWIR, 1-2.5 μm) focal plane array (FPA) results, based on IRnova’s 2.5 μm cutoff T2SL design are presented. High sensitivity is demonstrated with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 215 @ 50% well fill and a dynamic range of 1750 for a full well size of 118 ke- of the CTIA ROIC. Good uniformity across the detectors is evidenced by narrow SNR histograms, uniform response maps and low signal non-uniformity (~1 %). This work is part of the development route towards large footprint (2048 × 512 pixels, 15 μm pitch) HD space prototype eSWIR FPAs, currently performed within the EU-project STEP (Silicon and T2SL EuroPean collaboration for a non-dependent supply chain for large eSWIR FPAs). In addition, a first preview of the HD FPA performance enabled by IRnova’s midwave infrared (MWIR) T2SL small pitch technology is presented, showing an NETD of 32 mK at 120 K with F/3, 60 Hz and 10 ms integration time.
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