MONOLITHIC CCD IMAGERS IN HGCDTE

Charge-coupled device (CCD) infrared detector arrays in 5 mu m cutoff HgCdTe have been demonstrated for low background applications. These f ully monolithic 128 by 28 element CCD arrays incorporate time-delay-an d-integrate (TDI) detection, serial readout multiplexing, charge-to-vo ltage conversion and buffer amplification in the HgCdTe detector chip. Operation of these devices at 77 K have produced average detectivity values exceeding 3 x 10(13) cm-Hz(1/2)/W for a background flux level o f 6 x 10(12) photon/cm(2)-sec in the 3.0 mu m to 5.5 mu m spectral ban d. Overall performance data indicates the monolithic HgCdTe CCD to be a promising alternative to present midwave infrared hybrid focal plane array technology.