Performance of 5 Micron, Molecular Beam Epitaxy HgCdTe Sensor Chip Assemblies (SCAs) for the NGST Mission and Ground-Based Astronomy

Abstract

Low background applications place the most stringent requirements on detector material, requiring the lowest possible dark currents, highest quantum efficiencies, negligible image persistence (image latency or “ghosts”), high operability, and good uniformity. Rockwell Scientific’s MWIR (λco=5μm) MBE HgCdTe/CdZnTe consistently meets these stringent requirements due to a number of growth techniques unavailable to other MWIR materials. The first part of this paper focuses on the advantages offered by MBE HgCdTe on CdZnTe detectors. The second part focuses on the functional capabilities of our most recent multiplexers, the HAWAII-1RG and HAWAII-2RG. Finally, the paper briefly concludes with a look at the future of SCA control with Rockwell Scientific’s new NGST ASIC for control and digitization of the HAWAII-RG series multiplexers.