Readout Integrated Circuits

Today s IR and visible sensors are used in two general configurations. One configuration - focal plane arrays, or FPAs - includes thousands or millions of elements, accessed through a readout- integrated circuit (ROIC). They, as well as the electronics for them, are discussed in Chapters 7 and 8. 

This chapter provides an overview of the readout integrated circuit (ROIC) used for infrared, visible, and other arrayed sensors. 

Figure 7.2 The sensor chip assemblies (SCAs) comprise a detector array interconnected, or hybridized, to the readout integrated circuit (ROIC).

Aziz et al. (1998) Standardized High-Performance 320 x 256 Readout Integrated Circuit for Infrared Applications by N. Y. Azis, G. T. Kincaid, W. J. Parrish, J. T. Woolaway, and J. L. Heath, Proc. SPIE 33360, Infrared Readout Electronics IV, 14 September 1998 doi 10.1117/12.321755. This paper describes the ISC 9705 320 X 256 ROIC. 

Khoshakhlagh (2008) Design of a Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC) for Infrared Imaging Applications by A. Khoshakhlagh (Thesis for Master of Science, University of New Mexico, 2008. Accessed May 2014 at http //repository.unm.edu/bitstream/handle/1928/12046/ana thesis final final nov l 5 submitted.pdf sequence= 1... 

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. 

Readout integrated circuit (ROIC) technology, driven by the digital silicon microelectronics industry, continues to push toward smaller minimum feature sizes. This in turn allows for increased circuit density, more on-chip functionality, dynamic operational flexibility and programmability. In the past decade, minimum feature sizes that are routinely used in the manufacturing silicon ROICs have progressed to smaller dimensions at a steady rate (from 0.5 to 0.35 to 0.25 to 0.18 and 0.15 pm). In the next few years, this will reach down to 0.13, 0.11, and even 0.090 pm. The quoted minimum features sizes are nowhere near what is currently available in purely digital microelectronic circuitry. 

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