Pixel-based Spectral Characterization of Mid-infrared Si Array Detectors for Astronomical Observations in Space

Abstract

Mid-infrared (IR) array detectors have been used for astronomical observations in space. However, the uniformities of their spectral response curves have not been investigated in detail, the understanding of which is important for spectroscopic observations using large array formats. We characterize the spectral responses of all the pixels in IR array detectors using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and cryogenic optics for measurements at high signal-to-noise ratios. We measured the spectral responses of the Si:As impurity band conduction (IBC) array, a flight back-up detector for AKARI/InfraRed Camera. As a result, we find that the Si:As array has intrinsic variations in the spectral response along the row and column directions of the array. We also find that the cutoff wavelength of the Si:As IBC array depends on the intensity of the incident light.

Interfacial Characteristics and Optical Properties of InAs/InAsSb Type II Superlattices for the Mid‐Infrared Operation

“…Infrared detectors have a wide range of potential applications in infrared countermeasures, thermal imaging, aerial monitoring, and space communications because of their unique advantages -such as high sensitivity, strong anti-interference ability, and low false alarm rate. [1][2][3] Currently, the main types of infrared detectors are based on HgCdTe, [4,5] III-V semiconductors, and cadmium (Cd)-based colloidal quantum dots. [6,7] Among them, the quantum structures of III-V semiconductors (including quantum wells [8,9] and type II superlattices [10,11] [T2SLs]) exhibit monochromic and multicolor infrared response ability with high operating temperature and high quantum efficiency.…”