Thermal imager fixed pattern noise prediction using a characterization of the infrared detector

Abstract

Cooled infrared detectors are typically characterized by well-known electro-optical parameters: responsivity, noise equivalent temperature difference, shot noise, 1 / f noise, and so on. Particularly important for staring arrays is also the residual fixed pattern noise (FPN) that can be obtained after the application of the nonuniformity correction (NUC) algorithm. A direct measure of this parameter is usually hard to define because the residual FPN strongly depends, other than on the detector, on the choice of the NUC algorithm and the operative scenario. We introduce three measurable parameters: instability, nonlinearity, and a residual after a polynomial fitting of the detector response curve, and we demonstrate how they are related to the residual FPN after the application of an NUC (the relationship with three common correction algorithms is discussed). A comparison with experimental data is also presented and discussed.