Focal Plane Array Imaging Research Articles

基于AlGaN/GaN场效应晶体管的太赫兹焦平面成像传感器

基于AlGaN/GaN场效应晶体管的太赫兹焦平面成像传感器

Single-chip, mid-infrared array for room temperature video rate imaging

The need for energy efficiency and lower emissions from industrial plants and infrastructures is driving research into novel sensor technologies, especially those that allow observing and measuring greenhouse gases, such as CO2. CO2 emissions can be captured using mid-infrared imagers, but at present, these are based on hybrid technologies that need expensive manufacturing and require cooling. The high price tag prevents a wider diffusion of mid-infrared imagers and hence their use for many low-cost and large-volume applications. Here we report a monolithic III-V technology that integrates GaAs transistors with an InSb photodiode array. The monolithic material system reduces costs and provides an excellent platform for the sensor system-on-chip. We present a focal plane array imaging technology operating at room temperature in the 3–6 μm wavelength range that will address the need for identification and measurement of a range of industrially important gases.

An automated approach for microplastics analysis using focal plane array (FPA) FTIR microscopy and image analysis

We present an automated approach to reduce the time demand currently needed for data analyses. We have developed a novel analysis pipeline, followed by image analysis with Python and Simple ITK image processing modules.

Fabrication and optical behavior of graded-index, moth-eye antireflective structures in CdTe

A simple and scalable method, based on dip-coat colloidal lithography, mask reduction, and plasma-based pattern transfer, is presented to create graded-index, moth eye-inspired antireflective features on II–VI semiconductors. Hexagonal arrays of isolated conical frusta with tunable geometry (top diameter = 200–1300 nm, pitch = 310–2530 nm, and height = 790–7100 nm) were realized by isotropic etching of various size silica colloid masks before pattern transfer into the underlying substrate. Substantial increases in single-side direct and total infrared (IR) transmission across the 4–20 μm range (9%–15% for CdTe thin films and 18% for bulk CdTe) were achieved, in excellent agreement with transfer matrix calculations and finite difference time domain optical simulations. The fabrication method presented can be used to enhance efficiency in multiple IR application areas including photovoltaics, optical system components, detectors, and focal plane array imagers.

Single image non-uniformity correction using compressive sensing

A non-uniformity correction (NUC) method for an infrared focal plane array imaging system was proposed. The algorithm, based on compressive sensing (CS) of single image, overcame the disadvantages of “ghost artifacts” and bulk calculating costs in traditional NUC algorithms. A point-sampling matrix was designed to validate the measurements of CS on the time domain. The measurements were corrected using the midway infrared equalization algorithm, and the missing pixels were solved with the regularized orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm. Experimental results showed that the proposed method can reconstruct the entire image with only 25% pixels. A small difference was found between the correction results using 100% pixels and the reconstruction results using 40% pixels. Evaluation of the proposed method on the basis of the root-mean-square error, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and roughness index (ρ) proved the method to be robust and highly applicable.

Image reconstruction for single detector rosette scanning systems based on compressive sensing theory

Compressive sensing (CS) is a signal processing technique that enables a signal that has a sparse representation in a known basis to be reconstructed using measurements obtained below the Nyquist rate. Single detector image reconstruction applications using CS have been shown to give promising results. In this study, we investigate the application of CS theory to single detector infrared (IR) rosette scanning systems which suffer from low performance compared to costly focal plane array (FPA) detectors. The single detector pseudoimaging rosette scanning system scans the scene with a specific pattern and performs processing to estimate the target location without forming an image. In this context, this generation of scanning systems may be improved by utilizing the samples obtained by the rosette scanning pattern in conjunction with the CS framework. For this purpose, we consider surface-to-air engagement scenarios using IR images containing aerial targets and flares. The IR images have been reconstructed from samples obtained with the rosette scanning pattern and other baseline sampling strategies. It has been shown that the proposed scheme exhibits good reconstruction performance and a large size FPA imaging performance can be achieved using a single IR detector with a rosette scanning pattern.

High resolution FTIR imaging provides automated discrimination and detection of single malaria parasite infected erythrocytes on glass.

New highly sensitive tools for malaria diagnostics are urgently needed to enable the detection of infection in asymptomatic carriers and patients with low parasitemia. In pursuit of a highly sensitive diagnostic tool that can identify parasite infections at the single cell level, we have been exploring Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy using a Focal Plane Array (FPA) imaging detector. Here we report for the first time the application of a new optic configuration developed by Agilent that incorporates 25× condenser and objective Cassegrain optics with a high numerical aperture (NA = 0.81) along with additional high magnification optics within the microscope to provide 0.66 micron pixel resolution (total IR system magnification of 61×) to diagnose malaria parasites at the single cell level on a conventional glass microscope slide. The high quality images clearly resolve the parasite's digestive vacuole demonstrating sub-cellular resolution using this approach. Moreover, we have developed an algorithm that first detects the cells in the infrared image, and secondly extracts the average spectrum. The average spectrum is then run through a model based on Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), which diagnoses unequivocally the infected from normal cells. The high quality images, and the fact this measurement can be achieved without a synchrotron source on a conventional glass slide, shows promise as a potential gold standard for malaria detection at the single cell level.

Metamaterial-Based Terahertz Imaging

This paper presents the design of an innovative, low-cost, uncooled, metamaterial-based terahertz (THz) focal plane array (FPA). A single pixel is composed of a resonant metamaterial absorber and micro-bolometer sensor integrated in a standard 180 nm CMOS process. The metamaterial is made directly in the metallic and insulating layers available in the six metal layer CMOS foundry process. THz absorption is determined by the geometry of the metamaterial absorber which can be customized for different frequencies. The initial prototype consists of a 5 $\times$ 5 pixel array with a pixel size of 30 $\mu$ m $\times$ 30 $\mu$ m and is readily scalable to more commercially viable array sizes. The FPA imaging capability is demonstrated in a transmission and reflection mode experiment by scanning a metallic object hidden in a manila envelope.

Windowed XOR photography for optical readout cantilever FPA imaging

An approach named Windowed XOR photography is proposed for optical readout bimaterial cantilever focal plane array (FPA) imaging. It can replace the conventional differential amplifying method for separating the target from the background radiation. Compared with the conventional method, the approach is helpful to reducing image data's bit-width for processing, avoids negative values and data overflow. A novel integrated aspheric optical readout system and digital processing system were developed to evaluate the approach. Comparative infrared imaging experiments were conducted. The results and analyses show that the Windowed XOR photography has preferable effect and performance.

Lens‐coupled folded‐dipole antennas for terahertz detection and imaging

The authors report the design, simulation and characterisation of lens-coupled folded-dipole antennas (LC-FDAs) for terahertz (THz) detection and focal-plane imaging arrays. LC-FDAs operating at 200 GHz have been designed on semi-insulating silicon wafers with a resistivity larger than 20 000 Ω·cm. Even–odd mode analysis (EOA) has been performed to extract the currents of the two modes. The embedding impedance of the designed LC-FDAs has been simulated using conventional numerical electromagnetics, and the results show that a wide range of impedance values (both real and imaginary parts) can be achieved by changing the antenna geometry. This property makes LC-FDAs suitable for high-performance THz detectors in which impedance matching between antennas and devices is desired. From the currents calculated using EOA, the LC-FDA far-field radiation patterns, antenna directivity and Gaussian coupling efficiency for different lens structures have been examined using ray-tracing techniques. Good agreement between calculation results and measurement has been observed demonstrating the effectiveness of the above analysis approach. The single element FDA design has also been explored for use in high-resolution two-dimensional THz focal plane arrays by optimising the lens structure and evaluating the off-axis radiation patterns.

Experiments on the range resolution measurement of a slit Streak Tube Imaging Lidar

This paper describes the range resolution of a linear focal plane arrays imaging lidar. Through the measurement experiments of a flash lidar imaging technique that uses a streak tube (K008) camera as a receiver, range resolution under different conditions has been discussed. Its range accuracy can be about 2cm under laboratory conditions, less than 0.65m during long distance (4km) target detection, and 1.5cm in the experiment of underwater targets measurement, which are in accordance with the theoretical calculating values.

Discrimination between two different grades of human glioma based on blood vessel infrared spectral imaging.

Gliomas are brain tumours classified into four grades with increasing malignancy from I to IV. The development and the progression of malignant glioma largely depend on the tumour vascularization. Due to their tissue heterogeneity, glioma cases can be difficult to classify into a specific grade using the gold standard of histological observation, hence the need to base classification on a quantitative and reliable analytical method for accurately grading the disease. Previous works focused specifically on vascularization study by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proving this method to be a way forward to detect biochemical changes in the tumour tissue not detectable by visual techniques. In this project, we employed FTIR imaging using a focal plane array (FPA) detector and globar source to analyse large areas of glioma tumour tissue sections via molecular fingerprinting in view of helping to define markers of the tumour grade. Unsupervised multivariate analysis (hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis) of blood vessel spectral data, retrieved from the FPA images, revealed the fine structure of the borderline between two areas identified by a pathologist as grades III and IV. Spectroscopic indicators are found capable of discriminating different areas in the tumour tissue and are proposed as biomolecular markers for potential future use of grading gliomas.Graphical Infrared imaging of glioma blood vessels provides a means to revise the pathologists’ line of demarcation separating grade III (GIII) from grade IV (GIV) parts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00216-015-8891-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Speciation and diffusion profiles of H2O in water-poor beryl: comparison with cordierite

This paper reports on water speciation and diffusion in synthetic beryl samples treated in CO2-rich atmosphere, at 700 MPa and 700 and 800 °C, respectively. The study has been conducted by means of polarized FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) integrated with FPA (focal plane array) imaging. As expected, the infrared spectra show the presence of CO2 but also of minor H2O interpreted as resulting from moisture present in the starting materials used for the experiments. FPA-FTIR images show that H2O diffuses into the beryl matrix along the structural channels oriented parallel to [001]. Spectra collected along profiles parallel to the c-axis show subtle changes as a function of the distance from the crystal edge; these changes can be correlated to a progressive change in the H2O coordination environment in the channel, as a response to the varying H2O/alkali ratio. In particular, the data show that when 2H2O > Na+ apfu (atoms per formula unit), H2O can assume both type I and type II orientation; in the latter case, each Na cation coordinates two H2O[II] molecules (doubly coordinated H2O). If 2H2O < Na+ apfu, then H2O[II] molecules are singly coordinated to each Na cation. The same type of feature is observed and commented for the structurally related cordierite. Diffusion coefficients and activation energies have been also determined for both types of water molecules.

Image quality improvement by the structured light illumination method in an optical readout cantilever array infrared imaging system.

The structured light illumination method is applied in an optical readout uncooled infrared imaging system to improve the IR image quality. The unavoidable nonuniform distribution of the initial bending angles of the bimaterial cantilever pixels in the focal plane array (FPA) can be well compensated by this method. An ordinary projector is used to generate structured lights of different intensity distribution. The projected light is divided into patches of rectangular regions, and the brightness of each region can be set automatically according to the deflection angles of the FPA and the light intensity focused on the imaging plane. By this method, the FPA image on the CCD plane can be much more uniform and the image quality of the IR target improved significantly. A comparative experiment is designed to verify the effectiveness. The theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed structured light illumination method outperforms the conventional one, especially when it is difficult to perfect the FPA fabrication.

Low Operating Voltage and Small Gain Slope of InGaAs APDs With p-Type Multiplication Layer

We reported separate absorption and multiplication InAlAs/InGaAs avalanche photodiodes with a p-type multiplication layer. Wedge-shaped electric field profiles with different gradients and peak intensities confined in a thin InAlAs avalanche layer were realized. These devices showed optimum operating gains up to 40 in linear mode with low operating voltages <;20 V, small gain slopes, and high-gain uniformity. Moreover, a reduced breakdown voltage temperature coefficient <;6 mV/K in the temperature range of 200-350 K was observed, whereas the dark current showed a noticeable increase. Those multiplication performances are attributed to the modified electric field profiles and are ideally suitable for focal plane array imaging applications.

Line–plane-switching infrared bundle for push-broom sensing fiber imaging

We reported line–plane-switching infrared (IR) fiber bundle with high-resolution of 0.027μm−1, small numerical aperture (NA) of 0.20 (±0.02), high filling-factor, and bending radius of around 5.0mm, i.e. extremely good flexibility. This fiber bundle is made from chalcogenide glass fibers, possessing core (As40S58Se2) of 45μm, cladding (As40S60) of 50μm, and error of 1% in diameter. Based on the lens used to demonstrate IR push-broom imaging, the format of matching fiber bundle we chose is 64×9 in system to implement 192×3 format linear array imaging. By principle-demonstrating system incorporated this fiber bundle coupled with small scale Infrared Focal Plane Array (IRFPA), wide-field and long-array IR push-broom image was successfully demonstrated.

Small-Pitch HgCdTe Photodetectors

If we can make wavelength-sized detectors, we approach the limit at which smaller detectors have no further advantage for imaging focal plane arrays with practical (f/1-2) optics. Of course, this must be accomplished without compromising performance—a challenge for 5-μm devices for which the perimeter, the currents of which depend on passivation quality, is very large compared with the area of the device. This paper describes the development of small LWIR HgCdTe detectors and compares dark current performance with that of larger basic devices, as described by “Rule 07”, a well-known rule of thumb which gives the HgCdTe dark-current density characteristics of the best reported diodes as a function of device cut-off wavelength and operating temperature. Low cross-talk requires a fully-depleted absorber layer sufficiently thick to provide adequate quantum efficiency (QE). Preliminary results show dark-current densities are more than a factor of ten below the Rule 07 trend line. With these dark-current densities, the measured ∼40% non-anti-reflection-coated QE in the 8–10 μm region is more than adequate to achieve background-limited performance with the margin under tactical backgrounds for the fast (f/1), diffraction-limited optics required for the small pixels.

Derivatization Technique to Increase the Spectral Selectivity of Two-Dimensional Fourier Transform Infrared Focal Plane Array Imaging: Analysis of Binder Composition in Aged Oil and Tempera Paint

The interpretation of standard Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) on oil-based paint samples often suffers from interfering bands of the different compounds, namely, binder, oxidative aging products, carboxylates formed during aging, and several pigments and fillers. The distinction of the aging products such as ketone and carboxylic acid functional groups pose the next problem, as these interfere with the triglyceride esters of the oil. A sample preparation and derivatization technique using gaseous sulfur tetrafluoride (SF4), was thus developed with the aim to discriminate overlapping signals and achieve a signal enhancement on superposed compounds. Of particular interest in this context is the signal elimination of the broad carboxylate bands of the typical reaction products developing during the aging processes in oil-based paints, as well as signal interference originating from several typical pigments in this spectral range. Furthermore, it is possible to distinguish the different carbonyl-containing functional groups upon selective alteration. The derivatization treatment can be applied to both microsamples and polished cross sections. It increases the selectivity of the infrared spectroscopy technique in a fundamental manner and permits the identification and two-dimensional (2D) localization of binder components in aged paint samples at the micrometer scale. The combination of SF4 derivatization with high-resolution 2D FT-IR focal plane array (FPA) imaging delivers considerable advances to the study of micro-morphological processes involving organic compounds.

Crystal-chemistry and short-range order of fluoro-edenite and fluoro-pargasite: a combined X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopic approach

AbstractThis study addresses the crystal chemistry of a set of five samples of F-rich amphiboles from the Franklin marble (USA), using a combination of microchemical (Electron microprobe analysis (EMPA)), single-crystal refinement (SREF) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy methods. The EMPA data show that three samples fall into the compositional field of fluoro-edenite (Hawthorne et al., 2012), whereas two samples are enriched in high-charged C cations and – although very close to theCR3+boundary – must be classified as fluoro-pargasite. Magnesium is by far the dominant C cation, Ca is the dominant B cation (withBNa in the range 0.00−0.05 a.p.f.u., atoms per formula unit) and Na is the dominant A cation, withA☐ (vacancy) in the range 0.07−0.21 a.p.f.u.;WF is in the range 1.18−1.46 a.p.f.u. SREF data show that: TAl is completely ordered at the T(1) site; theM(1) site is occupied only by divalent cations (Mg and Fe2+);CAl is disordered between theM(2) andM(3) sites;ANa is ordered at the A(m) site, as expected in F-rich compositions. The FTIR spectra show a triplet of intense and sharp components at ~3690, 3675 and 3660 cm−1, which are assigned to the amphibole and the systematic presence of two very broad absorptions at 3560 and 3430 cm−1. These latter are assigned, on the basis of polarized measurements and FPA (focal plane array) imaging, to chlorite-type inclusions within the amphibole matrix. Up to eight components can be fitted to the spectra; band assignment based on previous literature on similar compositions shows thatCAl is disordered over theM(2) andM(3) sites, thus supporting the SREF conclusions based on the &lt;M−O&gt; bond distance analysis. The measured frequencies of all components are typical of O−H groups pointing towards Si−O(7)−Al tetrahedral linkages, thus allowing characterization of the SRO (shortrange- order) ofTAl in the double chain. Accordingly, the spectra show that in the fluoro-edenite/ pargasite structure, the T cations, Si and Al, are ordered in such a way that Si−O(7)−Si linkages regularly alternate with Si−O(7)−Al linkages along the double chain.

Antimonide-Based Type II Superlattices: A Superior Candidate for the Third Generation of Infrared Imaging Systems

Type II superlattices (T2SLs), a system of interacting multiquantum wells, were introduced by Nobel Laureate L. Esaki in the 1970s. Since then, this material system has drawn a lot of attention, especially for infrared detection and imaging. In recent years, the T2SL material system has experienced incredible improvements in material growth quality, device structure design, and device fabrication techniques that have elevated the performance of T2SL-based photodetectors and focal-plane arrays (FPAs) to a level comparable to state-of-the-art material systems for infrared detection and imaging, such as mercury cadmium telluride compounds. We present the current status of T2SL-based photodetectors and FPAs for imaging in different infrared regimes, from short wavelength to very long wavelength, and dual-band infrared detection and imaging, as well as the future outlook for this material system.