Radiation Model of a Housing of Cooled Infrared Detector Array

The infrared camera detects infrared radiation from the observed objects, Its main element is the array of infrared detectors, which converts the received radiation into an electrical signal. The radiation sources recorded by the detector can be divided as useful, received from the observed scene, and useless received from such objects as the detector housing and lens elements. These unusable radiation sources have a significant impact on the design of the detector itself. The article presents a model of the detector housing and a quantitative analysis of the influence of various radiation sources on the effectiveness of radiation detection from the observed scene.

Physics of Nanostructure Design for Infrared Detectors

Infrared detectors and focal plane array technologies are becoming ubiquitous in military, but are limited in the commercial sectors. The widespread commercial use of this technology is lacking because of the high cost and large size, weight and power. Most of these detectors require cryogenic cooling to minimize thermally generated dark currents, causing the size, weight, power and cost to increase significantly. Approaches using very thin detector design can minimize thermally generated dark current, but at a cost of lower absorption efficiency. There are emerging technologies in nanostructured material designs such as metasurfaces that can allow for increased photon absorption in a thin detector architecture. Ultra-thin and low-dimensional absorber materials may also provide unique engineering opportunities in detector design. This chapter discusses the physics and opportunities to increase the operating temperature using such techniques.