Abstract
The mission success of the geostationary operational satellite system Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) will significantly depend on the instrument performance in the very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) spectral range. As far as dark current behavior, homogeneity, and operability are concerned, the VLWIR constitutes a major challenge for sensor material improvement and device development. This paper reports on the latest results on HgCdTe (MCT) VLWIR photovoltaic sensor development and characterization for possible use with MTG. In order to achieve low enough dark currents, extrinsically p-doped MCT material with various cut-off wavelengths in the long wavelength infrared (LWIR)/VLWIR has been developed and manufactured. Compared to standard intrinsic MCT, a reduction in dark current by more than an order of magnitude is achieved, meeting the challenging MTG requirements. In a (256x256) VLWIR MCT focal plane array (FPA) with an ~14.7μm cut-off wavelength at a 55K operating temperature, a dark current density of about 1pA/μm 2 is demonstrated. For a 291K reference scene and at half-well integration capacity, we obtain a noise equivalent temperature difference of (24.0±3.0)mK and a photo response of 13mV/K.
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