University of Rochester Infrared Array Detector Research and Camera Development

The intent of this page is to describe the actual testing and development on infrared detectors for astronomical telescopes that occurs at the U of R, as well as describe research opportunities for undergraduate students, graduate students, engineers and postdoctoral associates.

We develop and test a variety of different detectors at the University of Rochester. Our two main areas of interest are:

• InSb array detectors, sensitive to light between 0.6 to 5.3 microns, and produced by Raytheon (SBRC).
• HgCdTe array detectors, with cut-off wavelengths around 10 microns, and produced by Rockwell Scientific.

Please take a photo tour of our Detector and Camera Hardware.

Click for larger image. This image shows some of the history of infrared array detector development that has occurred at the University of Rochester. Not shown in this image is the first infrared detector array which had a 32 X 32 pixel format and was delivered to the University of Rochester in 1983. The top, left array detector has a 58 X 62 pixel format, which was developed in 1987. The middle, left array detector has a 256 X 256 pixel format, which was developed in 1991 and is the detector that was developed for, and is currently in use on the Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF) in the IRAC instrument. The lower, left array detector has a 1024 X 1024 pixel format (1 Mega Pixel), which was developed in 1996. The right side shows a 2048 X 2048 pixel format (4 Mega Pixel) array detector which was developed in 2001 as a prototype for the NIRCam and NIRSpec instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope. All of the above InSb array detectors and multiplexers were manufactured by Raytheon (SBRC).

Detector related publications from the University of Rochester

Burst Noise in the HAWAII-1RG Multiplexer C. Bacon, et al., SPIE, vol. 5902, 2005.

Characterization of 2.5 micron HgCdTe VIRGO Detector Array, C. McMurtry, et al., SPIE, vol. 5902, 2005.

James Webb Space Telescope: Noise Results for the Multiplexers of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), C. McMurtry, et al., SPIE, vol. 5902, 2005.

Further Characterization of Rockwell LWIR HgCdTe Detector Arrays C. Bacon, et al., SPIE, vol. 5563, 2004.

James Webb Space Telescope: Characterization of Flight Candidate NIR InSb Arrays, C. McMurtry, et al., SPIE, vol. 5167, 2004.

Characterization of Rockwell LWIR HgCdTe Detector Arrays C. Bacon, et al., SPIE, vol. 5167, 2004.

Next Generation Space Telescope: NIR InSb Array Development C. McMurtry, et al., SPIE, vol. 4850, 2003.

Diode Characterization of Rockwell LWIR HgCdTe Detector Arrays C. Bacon, et al., SPIE, vol. 4850, 2003.

Interpixel Capacitance in Non-destructive Focal Plane Arrays A. Moore, et al., SPIE, vol. 5167, 2003.

QE Overestimation and Deterministic Crosstalk Resulting from Inter-pixel Capacitance A. Moore, et al., Opt. Eng. 2003.

Operation and Test of Hybridized Silicon p-i-n Arrays Using Open-source Array Control Hardware and Software A. Moore, et al., SPIE, vol. 5017, 2003.

Publications by other groups

Independent Testing of JWST Detector Prototypes D. Figer, et al., SPIE, vol. 5167, 2004.

2K x 2K Molecular Beam Epitaxy HgCdTe Detectors for the James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam Instrument J. Garnett, et al., SPIE, vol. 5499, 2004.

2K x 2K InSb for Astronomy A. Hoffman, et al., SPIE, vol. 5499, 2004.

Mega-Pixel Detector Arrays: Visible to 28 microns A. Hoffman, et al., SPIE, vol. 5167, 2004.

Orion II: the Second Generation Readout Multiplexer for the Largest Infrared Hybrid Focal Plane K. M. Merrill, et al., SPIE, vol. 5167, 2004.

Spitzer Space Telescope (SIRTF) Publications

Spatial Distributions of Hole Traps, and Image Latency in InSb Focal Plane Arrays R. Benson, et al., SPIE, vol. 4131, 2000.

Observing with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope S. Carey, et al., SPIE, vol. 5487, 2004.

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) G. Fazio, et al., SPIE, vol. 3354, 1998.

In-flight performance and calibration of the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for the Spitzer Space Telescope J. Hora, et al., SPIE, vol. 5487, 2004.

Performance of the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for SIRTF during instrument integration and test J. Hora, et al., SPIE, vol. 4850, 2003.

Calibration and performance of the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) J. Hora, et al., SPIE, vol. 4131, 2000.

Comparison of laboratory and in-flight performance of Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) detector arrays on Spitzer Space Telescope J. Pipher, et al., SPIE, vol. 5487, 2004.

InSb arrays for IRAC (Infrared Array Camera) on SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) J. Pipher, et al., SPIE, vol. 4131, 2000.

The following are not full papers (copyright issues), but links to the abstracts.

The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) for the Spitzer Space Telescope -- Abstract (ADS) G. Fazio, et al., ApJ Supp, vol. 154, 2004

Development of infrared focal plane arrays for space -- Abstract (ADS) J. Wu, et al., Rev. Scientific Instruments, vol. 68, 1997. Also at: AIP website

Last modified: Thu Aug 26 12:07:52 EDT 2004