Electronics for FPA Operation

Fundamentals of Infrared and Visible Detector Operation and Testing, Second Edition. John David Vincent, Steven E. Hodges, John Vampola, Mark Stegall, and Greg Pierce. 2016 John Wiley Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. Companion Website www.wiley.com/go/vincent/fundamentals/2e 

Step 1 - Setup Electronics to Provide Desired Biases and Clocks 253 

Step 2-Verify Proper Stimuli at the LCCC Pads 254 

The combination of detectors and readout integrated circuit (ROIC) is commonly referred to in the industry as a. focal plane array (FPA). In order to operate an FPA, you need to provide an environment that meets the operating requirements of the FPA. Many FPAs are designed to run at temperatures other than ambient. This means that, during testing, the FPA must be mounted in an appropriate environment. The enclosure, typically some type of dewar, provides the mechanical interface, electrical interface, thermal regulation, and optical configuration needed to test the device. 

We choose to break the drive signals into two main groups biases (Section 8.2.1) and clocks (Section 8.2.2). 

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Chapter 8 (Electronics for FRA Operation) is also new to this edition. It was written by Mark Stegall and Greg Pierce of SE-IR Corporation, Goleta CA. SE-IR builds equipment to operate FPAs and to quickly prototype FPA-based cameras. Part of their service includes a demonstration to the customer that the equipment works with the customer s FPA in the customer s specific application. This means that Mark or Greg have operated almost every FPA design in existence. It is not uncommon for SE-IR to discover unique ROIC features before the readout vendor is aware of them. 

The key features of front-end circuits for simple photoconductive (PC) and PV devices were described in Chapter 4, and the electronics required to operate an FPA were described in Chapter 8. 

The largest change in this edition is the addition of three chapters describing modem detector assemblies and their operation in some detail. Chapter 6 deals with single detector assemblies and small arrays - used, for example, in motion detectors, intm-sion alarms, and fire sensors. Chapter 7 describes ROICs and focal plane assemblies (FPAs) - the core of modern imaging systems. Chapter 8 describes the electronics needed to operate and test ROICs and FPAs. 

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