Context. AKARI is the first Japanese astronomical satellite dedicated to infrared astronomy. One of the main purposes of AKARI is the all-sky survey performed with six infrared bands between 9 μm and 200 μm during the period from 2006 May 6 to 2007 August 28. In this paper, we present the mid-infrared part (9 μm and 18 μm bands) of the survey carried out with one of the on-board instruments, the infrared camera (IRC). Aims. We present unprecedented observational results of the 9 μm and 18 μm AKARI all-sky survey and detail the operation and data processing leading to the point source detection and measurements. Methods. The raw data are processed to produce small images for every scan, and the point sources candidates are derived above the 5σ noise level per single scan. The celestial coordinates and fluxes of the events are determined statistically and the reliability of their detections is secured through multiple detections of the same source within milli-seconds, hours, and months from each other. Results. The sky coverage is more than 90% for both bands. A total of 877 091 sources (851 189 for 9 μm, 195 893 for 18 μm) are confirmed and included in the current release of the point source catalog. The detection limit for point sources is 50 mJy and 90 mJy for the 9 μm and 18 μm bands, respectively. The position accuracy is estimated to be better than 2 . Uncertainties in the in-flight absolute flux calibration are estimated to be 3% for the 9 μm band and 4% for the 18 μm band. The coordinates and fluxes of detected sources in this survey are also compared with those of the IRAS survey and are found to be statistically consistent.

The Infrared Camera (IRC) is one of two focal-plane instruments on the AKARI 1 satellite. It is designed for wide-field deep imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy in the near-to mid-infrared (1.8-26.5 µm) in the pointed observation mode of AKARI. IRC is also operated in the survey mode to make an all-sky survey at 9 and 18 µm. It comprises three channels. The NIR channel (1.8-5.5 µm) employs a 512 × 412 InSb array, whereas both the MIR-S (4.6-13.4 µm) and MIR-L (12.6-26.5 µm) channels use 256 × 256 Si:As impurity band conduction arrays. Each of the three channels has a field-of-view of about 10 ′ × 10 ′ and are operated simultaneously. The NIR and MIR-S share the same field-of-view by virtue of a beam splitter. The MIR-L observes the sky about 25 ′ away from the NIR/MIR-S field-of-view. IRC gives us deep insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies, the evolution of planetary disks, the process of star-formation, the properties of interstellar matter under various physical conditions, and the nature and evolution of solar system objects. The in-flight performance of IRC has been confirmed to be in agreement with the pre-flight expectation. This paper summarizes the design and the in-flight operation and imaging performance of IRC.