Numerical Analysis of Micro-Lens Array to the Mid-IR Range

New interferometric IR techniques have recently been developed to allow Sun-Jupiter-like detections in deep space. These techniques demand a high angular resolution, a high sensitivity towards signal detection buried in noise, and a well-defined bandwidth of spectral resolution. Micro-lens arrangements have helped increase the use of these parameters for IR detectors. In this paper we present a finite element method (FEM)-based simulation of a typical micro-lens array, to be used in mid-IR cameras, where the aperture geometry and radius of curvature are varied for design optimization. Moreover, we show the spot and optical aberrations produced by two types of geometrical arrangements. This procedure could be helpful in improving the IR detector signal in the exoplanets exploration, in systems placed outside of the earth’s atmosphere.

Design and Fabrication of a Low-Cost Thermopile Infrared Detector

In this paper, we design and optimize a low-cost, closed-film structure of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) thermopile infrared detector. By optimizing the circular arrangement of thermocouple strips and the thermal isolation design of the cold end to pursue a higher temperature difference, in addition to eliminating the absorption region, silicon nitride is deposited on the whole device surface as a passivated absorption layer. This reduces the cost while maintaining the voltage response and is suitable for mass production. The optimized detector had a 22.6% improvement in the response rate to 34.2 V/W, a detection rate of 1.02 × 108 cm·Hz1/2/W, and a response time of 26.9 ms. The design optimization of this detector provides a reference for further development of IR detectors.

Modeling of plasmon resonance in periodic multilayer structures based on chromium with a surface island layer

The optical properties of Cr/Si/Cr and Cr/CrSi2 /Cr structures with periodically located chromium islands are modeled using the finite-difference time domain method. These structures are characterized by the phenomenon of plasmon resonance. The dependences of the intensity and position of the plasmon absorption peak on the thickness and radius of the islands are determined. It was observed that when the island thickness increases to 120 nm, the intensity of the absorption peak increases to 69 % for the Cr/Si/Cr structure and to 55 % for the Cr/CrSi2 /Cr structure. It was found that the peak of plasmon absorption in the spectrum of the Cr/Si/Cr structure is at a shorter wavelength (8.4 µm for Cr/Si/Cr, 11.1 µm for Cr/CrSi2/Cr), and also has a higher intensity (the share of absorbed radiation is 14 % higher compared to the peak of plasmon absorption in the spectrum of the Cr/CrSi2 /Cr structure). The obtained dependences indicate that the Cr/Si/Cr and Cr/CrSi2 /Cr structures can be used as IR detectors.

Two Dimensional Materials for Military Applications

This paper particularly focuses on 2D materials and their utilization in military applications. 2D and heterostructured 2D materials have great potential for military applications in developing energy storage devices, sensors, electronic devices, and weapon systems. Advanced 2D material-based sensors and detectors provide high awareness and significant opportunities to attain correct data required for planning, optimization, and decision-making, which are the main factors in the command and control processes in the military operations. High capacity sensors and detectors or energy storage can be developed not only by using 2D materials such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), MoS2, MoSe2, MXenes; but also by combining 2D materials to obtain heterostructures. Phototransistors, flexible thin-film transistors, IR detectors, electrodes for batteries, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic light-emitting diodes have been being developed from the 2D materials for devices that are used in weapon systems, chemical-biological warfare sensors, and detection systems. Therefore, the utilization of 2D materials is the key factor and the future of advanced sensors, weapon systems, and energy storage devices for military applications.

Higher Operating Temperature IR Detectors of the MOCVD Grown HgCdTe Heterostructures

This paper summarizes progress in metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) technology achieved in recent years at the Institute of Applied Physics, Military University of Technology and VIGO System S.A. MOCVD with a wide range of composition and donor/acceptor doping and without post-growth annealing is a very convenient tool for the deposition of HgCdTe epilayers used for uncooled infrared detectors. Particular attention is focused on: surface morphology improvement, doping issues, diffusion processes during growth study, substrate issues, crystallographic orientation selection. In this respect, MOCVD technology improvement influencing IR detector parameters is shown. CdTe buffer layer deposition allows HgCdTe heterostructure growth on GaAs substrates. Theoretical modelling using APSYS platform supports designing and better understanding of the carrier transport mechanism in detector’s structures. Secondary ion mass spectrometry profiles allows to compare projected and obtained structures and revealed diffusion processes of the elements. A wide range of different types of infrared detectors operating at high operating temperature conditions has been constructed: photoresistors, non-equilibrium photodiodes, dual-band photodiodes, barrier and multiple detectors. The methodical research efforts contributed to the time constant reduction are important in many detector applications. Future challenges and prospects are also discussed.

Influence of Satellite Sensor Pixel Size and Overpass Time on Undercounting of Cerrado/Savannah Landscape-Scale Fire Radiative Power (FRP): An Assessment Using the MODIS Airborne Simulator

The fire radiative power (FRP) of active fires (AFs) is routinely assessed with spaceborne sensors. MODIS is commonly used, and its 1 km nadir pixel size provides a minimum per-pixel FRP detection limit of ~5–8 MW, leading to undercounting of AF pixels with FRPs of less than around 10 MW. Since most biomes show increasing AF pixel frequencies with decreasing FRP, this results in MODIS failing to detect many fires burning when it overpasses. However, the exact magnitude of the landscape-scale FRP underestimation induced by this type of AF undercounting remains poorly understood, as does its sensitivity to sensor pixel size and overpass time. We investigate these issues using both 1 km spaceborne MODIS data and 50 m MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) observations of the Brazilian cerrado, a savannah-like environment covering 2 million km2 (>20%) of Brazil where fires are a frequent occurrence. The MAS data were collected during the 1995 SCAR-B experiment, and are able to be spatially degraded to simulate data from sensors with a wide variety of pixel sizes. We explore multiple versions of these MAS data to deliver recommendations for future satellite sensor design, aiming to discover the most effective sensor characteristics that provide negligible pixel-area related FRP underestimation whilst keeping pixels large enough to deliver relatively wide swath widths. We confirm earlier analyses showing 1 km MODIS-type observations fail to detect a very significant number of active fires, and find the degree of undercounting gets worse away from the early afternoon diurnal fire cycle peak (~ 15:00 local time). However, the effect of these undetected fires on the assessment of total landscape-scale FRP is far less significant, since they are mostly low FRP fires. Using two different approaches we estimate that the MODIS-type 1 km data underestimates landscape scale FRP by around a third, and that whilst the degree of underestimation worsens away from the diurnal fire cycle peak the effect of this maybe less important since there are far fewer fires present. MAS data degraded to a 200 m spatial resolution provides landscape-scale FRP totals almost indistinguishable from those calculated with the original 50 m MAS observations, and still provides a pixel size consistent with a wide swath imaging instrument. Our work provides a potentially useful guide for future mission developers aiming at active fire and FRP applications, and we conclude that such missions need operate at spatial resolutions no higher than 200 m if they rely on cooled, low-noise IR detectors. Further work confirming this for fire-affected biomes beyond the savannah-type environments studied here is recommended.