Low noise digital readout IC is available for commercial SWIR use
The latest digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) from Senseeker Engineering is the RD0033 Neon. It was developed for low light applications such as short wave infrared (SWIR) and low current detector technologies such as quantum dots-based detectors.
The Neon RD0033 has a 640 x 512 format and a frame rate of 700 frames per second. In addition to low noise performance and triple gain modes with programmable well capacities of 22 ke-, 160 ke- and 1.1 Me-, it has a 10 micron pitch pixel with a capacitive transimpedance amplifier (CTIA) front end circuit.
The RD0033 is a global shutter chip with both internal synchronous integration control modes and external asynchronous integration control and can be used for range-gating applications. It exhibits very low read noise of 15 electrons at room temperature in high gain. On-chip and off-chip correlated double sampling modes operate in both integrate-then-read and integrate-while-read modes. The RD0033 also features sample-up-the-ramp, on-chip temperature monitoring and programmable multiple high-speed windows to observe and track targets at thousands of frames per second.
“The Neon RD0033 CTIA DROIC is the first in a family of Senseeker chips that provides an attractive, flexible and low-noise solution for a wide range of applications,” said Kenton Veeder, Senseeker’s president.
The NEON RD0033 can be used in high operating temperature conditions, confirmed the company.
IT is in production now and is supported by an electronics kit and a thermoelectric cooler sensor test unit that, together, enable testing and evaluation of Neon-based focal plane arrays.
Senseeker Engineering is a US owned transducer IC and cryogenic test solutions company that specialises in the design of digital imaging sensors, cryogenic test equipment, electronics and software.
