Abstract

The charge imaging matrix (CIM) concept^1,2 was developed to meet the requirements for large-area high-performance IR focal planes operating in both the 3-5- and 8-12-μm spectral bands. The CIM detector (Fig. 1) is an X-Y array of MIS photoca-pacitors fabricated in HgCdTe of selected IR cutoff wavelength. Elements (pixels) are connected serially in rows with narrow diode channels running between elements in columns. With a given row of MIS gates biased into depletion, IR-generated minority carriers are collected at each pixel for a fixed integration time and then transferred through a gate-controlled channel to the neighboring diode; the resultant change in diode potential defines the output signal for that detector element. The array is addressed and read out sequentially row by row with dedicated Si processor circuitry.

© 1988 Optical Society of America