INVITED PAPER 640x512 Pixel Four-Band, Broad-Band, and Narrow-Band Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector Focal Plane Arrays

A 9 pm cutoff 640x512 pixel hand-held quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) camera has been demonstrated with excellent imagery. Based on the single pixel test data, a noise equivalent differential temperature (NETD) of 8 mK is expected at 65K operating temperature with f72 optics at 300K background. This focal plane array has shown background limited performance (BPLI) at 72K operating temperature with the same optics and background conditions. In t h~s paper, we discuss the development of this very sensitive long wavelength infrared (LWIR) camera based on a GaAs/AlGaAs QWIP focal plane array and its performance in quantum efficiency, NETD, uniformity, and operability