<title>1/f noise measurements on PtSi focal plane arrays</title>

Abstract

The platinum silicide power spectrum found on p-type silicon Schottky diodes was measured for the diodes available on an IR FPA. The noise from the diodes is shown to have a white power spectrum even at frequencies below 3.0 x 10 to the -5th Hz. The data generated from each pixel were digitized into twelve bits, and tranferred by a GPIO bus to a computer. The unit cell, camera system response, low frequency drift and mutual drift compensation techniques, and optimization of the charge transfer efficiency are explained. The modeled response, and the sample of the observed power spectrum for three diodes, are presented. 1/f noise is characterized as ubiquitous in nature and nonuniformity correction techniques are effective, but the inconsistency with current 1/f models elicits a discussion of potential flaws in the experiment. Sensitivities to two terms are found in the measurement technique, and if the product of the terms is more than the diode power spectrum the estimates of the power spectrum of an individual diode cannot be accurate. It is concluded that 1/f noise may be completely absent from PtSi Schottky diodes.