High-background longwave Si:As IBC 320x240 IR focal plane array

Hughes has designed a large-area staring Si:As impurity band conduction (IBC) focal plane array specifically for high- background longwave infrared (LWIR) astronomy applications. We derived the design parameters by surveying leading astronomers for their requirements. This paper describes summary results of these requirements and how they were implemented in the design. We discuss preliminary detector and readout data that confirm satisfactory operation. We define current status and plans for fabrication and test of detector/readout hybrids.