A thirty months ESA project started in March 2008, whose overall purpose is to expand and assess the performance of broadband (11-15 µm) quantum detectors for spectro-imaging applications: Dispersive Spectrometers (DS) and Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS). We present here the technical requirements, the development approach chosen as well as preliminary signal to noise ratio (SNR) calculations. Our approach is fully compatible with the final array format (1024x256, pitch 50-60μm). We expect the requested uniformity, operability and SNR levels to be achieved at the goal temperatures (60K for FTS applications and 50K for DS applications). The performance level will be demonstrated on 256x256, 50µm pitch arrays. Also, operability and uniformity issues will be addressed on large mechanical 1024x256 hybrid arrays.

Date Published: 9 October 2008
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 7106, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XII, 71061K (9 October 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.800305

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7106:
Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XII
Roland Meynart; Steven P. Neeck; Haruhisa Shimoda; Shahid Habib, Editor(s)