Enhanced quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane arrays for space applications

A 30 months European Space Agency project started in March 2008, whose overall purpose is to expand and assess the performance of broadband (11–15 μm) quantum detectors for spectro-imaging applications: Dispersive Spectrometers and Fourier Transform Spectrometers. We present here the technical requirements, the development approach chosen as well as preliminary experimental results. Our approach is fully compatible with the final array format (1024 × 256, pitch 50–60 μm). We expect the requested uniformity, operability and SNR levels to be achieved at temperatures close to the goal values. The performance level will be demonstrated on 256 × 256, 50 μm pitch arrays. Also, operability and uniformity issues will be addressed on large mechanical 1024 × 256 hybrid arrays.