Advanced features of SCD's uncooled detectors

SCD has recently presented an un-cooled detector product line based on the high-end VO x bolometer technology 1 . The first PFA launched, BIRD , is a 384x288 (or 320x240) configurable format with 25μm pitch. Typical NETD values for these FPAs range at 50mK with an F/1 aperture and 60 Hz frame rate. These detectors also exhibit a relatively fast thermal time constant of approximately 10 msec. In this paper we elaborate on the special advanced features that were incorporated within the ROIC and supporting algorithms. In this framework we have addressed two important issues: the power consumption and the time span between shutter activations. Minimum power consumption is a critical issue for many un-cooled applications. SCD has addressed this by introducing the "Power-Save" concept accompanied with flexible dilution architecture. The paper will present recent results exhibiting the various advantages. One of the limiting factors on the performance of un-cooled detectors is their vulnerability to ambient drift. Usually, even minor temperature fluctuations are manifested as high residual non-uniformity (RNU) or fixed pattern noise (FPN). As a result frequent shutter operations must be applied, with the risk of blocking the scenery in critical time frames. The challenge is thus twofold: increase the time span between shutter corrections and achieve better control of its activation. For this purpose BIRD provides two complementing mechanisms: A real-time (frame-by-frame) ambient drift compensation accompanied by an RNU prediction mechanism. The paper will discuss these features in detail and present illustrative system implementations.