Recent developments for QWIP IR imaging modules at AIM

A new family of 2 dimensional detection modules based on GaAs quantum well (QWIP) photoconductors was recently developed by AEG Infrarot-Module GmbH (AIM). The QWIP material was developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Physics (IAF) in Freiburg, Germany. Details of the QWIP chip will be presented in a separate paper (1). This paper will. concentrate on the features of the QWIP detection module i.e. the integration of this specific focal plane array (FPA) into an integrated detector cooler assembly (IDCA), the driving and readout electronics and the necessary non uniformity correction (NUC) hardware and algorithms for achieving the best performance. The paper shows how the new 256x256 QWIP module is integrated in AIM's modular family of detectors. Measured results are shown for the thermal resolution and the correctability of the device. The results are compared with results of recently developed detection modules based on mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) as discussed in a separate paper 2. The correctability results show, that the full performance of the QWIP module with a thermal resolution as low as NETD < 10mK can only be used in systems by highly sophisticated NUC algorithms. AIM has introduced a new self adaptive algorithm (SAICA) which allows a dynamical optimization of the correction coefficients of high performance detection modules. Features of this algorithm will shortly be discussed. AIM contemporarily develops a new 640x512 QWIP module in cooperation with IAF. The device is available starting mid 1998. Basic features of the new device will be given as an outlook.