A long-range camera based on an HD MCT array of 12μm pixels

Davy, D.; Ashley, Stuart F. N.; Davison, Brian C.; Ashcroft, Andrew; McEwen, R. K.; Moore, Roger

doi:10.1117/12.2050322

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…State of the art cameras, such as Selex ES's Horizon, provide advanced image processing features such as turbulence mitigation by employing a high performance FPGA [2]. Whilst it offers exceptional performance, the architecture comes with a considerable cost and power consumption.…”

Section: A System-on-a-chip Based Architecture For Low Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Firefly: A HOT camera core for thermal imagers with enhanced functionality

Pillans¹,

Harmer²,

Edwards³

2015

SPIE Proceedings

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Raising the operating temperature of mercury cadmium telluride infrared detectors from 80K to above 160K creates new applications for high performance infrared imagers by vastly reducing the size, weight and power consumption of the integrated cryogenic cooler. Realizing the benefits of Higher Operating Temperature (HOT) requires a new kind of infrared camera core with the flexibility to address emerging applications in handheld, weapon mounted and UAV markets. This paper discusses the Firefly core developed to address these needs by Selex ES in Southampton UK. Firefly represents a fundamental redesign of the infrared signal chain reducing power consumption and providing compatibility with low cost, low power Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) computing technology. This paper describes key innovations in this signal chain: a ROIC purpose built to minimize power consumption in the proximity electronics, GPU based image processing of infrared video, and a software customisable infrared core which can communicate wirelessly with other Battlespace systems.

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Section: A System-on-a-chip Based Architecture For Low Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Firefly: A HOT camera core for thermal imagers with enhanced functionality

Pillans¹,

Harmer²,

Edwards³

2015

SPIE Proceedings

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“…Figure 1 shows the pixel density of MOVPE grown MWIR MCT arrays which has increased over time, with the latest pixels being almost an order of magnitude more densely packed than those being produced at the beginning of the millennium. An earlier publication [8] addressed product development with 12µm pixels and indicated that work was ongoing on technology for 10µm and smaller pixel designs. This paper describes the initial results of that work, an MOVPE grown MCT 8µm pixel technology and its first implementation in SuperHawk™, a 1280x1024 pixel MWIR FPA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments in reduced pixel geometries with MOVPE grown MCT arrays

McEwen¹,

Jeckells²,

Bains³

et al. 2015

SPIE Proceedings

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The fabrication of high performance infrared detectors using mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) grown on GaAs substrates by Metal Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) is now an established mature production process at Selex ES. Recent years have seen a substantial reduction in MCT pixel sizes, driven by system requirements for increased resolutions, lower power consumption and reduced costs. From initial devices with 30µm pixels, previous developments have produced MOVPE grown MCT arrays of 24µm, 20µm and 16µm pixels with response in short, long, mid and dual wavebands (SWIR, LWIR, MWIR and DWIR). High definition (HD) format and multi-megapixel arrays of 12µm MWIR pixels have also been produced using MOVPE grown MCT. The mesa structure of MOVPE grown MCT pixels inherently controls optical scattering, inter-pixel cross-talk, carrier diffusion and other blurring defects to negligible levels. This allows the goal for pixel size reduction to ultimately be determined by optical diffraction and NyquistShannon sampling criteria alone. This paper discusses the development of a new MCT detector at Selex ES, introducing the next generation of small pixels on an 8µm pitch. Transition to smaller silicon design rules has enabled the pixel size reduction in the read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) to be achieved with minimum sacrifice of storage capacity. The ROIC has a completely digital control with on-chip digital generation of photodiode bias voltage. Low power proximity electronics providing a fully digitised output have been developed to ease interface with the detector. Characteristics of the pixel design together with measured performance of the detector and its application to infrared sensor development, including updates of standard definition (SD) products to HD and better performance, will be addressed.

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