We report a new infrared detector named Blackbird, for the MWIR atmospheric window. The detector features an InSb Focal Plane Array (FPA) with a 1920×1536 format of 10 μm sized pixels housed in a stiffened Dewar and accompanied by an electronic proximity board. The FPA includes a new digital Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC) and is based on SCD’s matured planar InSb diode technology that provides excellent quantum efficiency and dark current performance. The ROIC has two Analog to Digital (A/D) converters per-column (total of 1920×2) to allow full format readout at 13 bit resolution and a high frame rate of up to 120 Hz. Such on-chip A/D conversion eliminates the need for several A/D converters thereby avoiding fairly high power consumption at the system level. The ROIC features a wide range of pixel-level functionality such as several conversion gains and 2×2 pixel binning. The design makes use of advanced 0.18 μm CMOS technology, which allows for high functionality and a relatively low power consumption of less than 400 mW at maximum bandwidth. The Flip-chip bonded FPA is mounted on a Cold-Finger and is housed in a stiffened Dewar that can withstand harsh environmental conditions while minimizing the environment contribution to the overall heat load of the Integrated Detector Cooler Assembly (IDCA). The resultant heat load of the Dewar and ROIC at an ambient temperature of 71 ºC is about 0.9 Watt. The Dewar is integrated with either a linear or a rotary 1-Watt cryogenic cooler, and the FPA is cooled down to 80K. The proximity electronics board is designed for easy integration into a system with a single power supply, a standard serial communication protocol, and a standard video output. In this work we present in detail the characteristic electro-optical performance of the new detector.
SemiConductor Devices (SCD), P.O. Box 2250, Haifa 31021, Israel
