High definition 10μm pitch InGaAs detector with asynchronous laser pulse detection mode

In recent years SCD has developed InGaAs/InP technology for Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) imaging. The first product, Cardinal 640, has a 640x512 (VGA) format at 15μm pitch, and more than a thousand units have already been delivered. We now present Cardinal 1280, having the smallest pitch available today (10μm), with a 1280x1024 (SXGA) format. Cardinal 1280 addresses both long-range daylight imaging, and passive or active imaging in Low Light Level (LLL) conditions. The Readout Integrated Circuit supports snapshot imaging at 13 bit resolution with a frame rate of 160Hz at full format, or a frame rate of 640Hz with 2x2 binning. It also has a Low Noise Imaging (LNIM) mode with 35ereadout noise with internal Correlated Double Sampling (CDS). An asynchronous Laser Pulse Detection (ALPD) mode is implemented with 2x2 binning in parallel to SWIR imaging (with 10 μm resolution). The new 10 μm pixel is sensitive down to the visible (VIS) spectrum, with a typical dark current of ~ 0.5fA at 280K, and a quantum efficiency >80% at 1550nm. The Focal Plane Array is integrated into a ruggedized, high vacuum integrity, metallic package, with a Thermo- Electric Cooler (TEC) for optimized performance, and a high grade Sapphire window. In this paper we will present the architecture and preliminary measurement results.