Abstract
Military imaging is the largest application sector for shortwave infrared (SWIR) detectors, followed by spectroscopy (for the sorting of products and materials), and thermal sensing. Each application places different demands on the detectors, and fulfilling these requirements has driven the production of higher-quality, lower-cost imagers. The Visible SWIR Camera images digital pictures under day and starlight-only conditions, enabling the transmission of those images between soldiers on the battlefield. Additional functions are a windowing capability for comm link reception, and range-gating ability (viewing a specific depth of field at a specified range.) The combination of gated and video imaging is achieved through a high bandwidth pixel with a capacitive transimpedance amplifier (CTIA) design. Two different sensitivities in the CTIA pixel are achieved by switching between two feedback capacitor sizes, allowing for different illumination conditions. Anti-blooming is provided in the all solidstate gated camera, to prevent charge spreading from oversaturated pixels. All pixels are gated simultaneously for "snapshot" exposure. The low dark current and high bandwidth of the InGaAs photodetectors enables both high sensitivity imaging at long exposure times and high bandwidth at short exposure times. The spectral response of InGaAs extends from 0.9 μm to 1.7 μm, The Visible SWIR Camera is very reliable, in addition to being small and lightweight.
