Performance Improvements For Vox Microbolometer Fpas

Raytheon is producing high-quality 320 x 240 microbolometer FPAs with 25 mum pitch pixels. The 320 x 240 FPAs have a sensitivity that is comparable to microbolometer FPAs with 50 mum pixels. Typical NETD values for these FPAs are <50mK with an f/1 aperture and operating at 30 Hz frame rates. Pixel operability is greater than 99.9% on most FPAs, and uncorrected responsivity nonuniformity is less than 4% (sigma/mean). These 25 mum microbolometer detectors also have a relatively fast thermal time constant of approximately 10 msec. These arrays have produced excellent image quality, and are currently fielded in a variety of demonstration systems.The pixel size reduction facilitates a significant FPA cost reduction since the number of die printed on a wafer can be increased, and also has enabled the development of a large-format 640 x 480 FPA array.Raytheon is producing these arrays with excellent sensitivity and typical NETD values of <50mK with an f/1 aperture and operating at 30 Hz frame rates. These arrays have excellent operability and image quality. Several dual FOV prototype 640 x 480 systems have been delivered under the LCMS and UAV programs.RVS has developed a flexible uncooled front end (UFE) electronics that will serve as the basis for the camera engine systems using 320 x 240 arrays. RVS has developed a 640 x 480 Common Uncooled Engine (CUE) which is intended for small pixel, high performance applications. The CUE is the ideal cornerstone for ground and airborne systems, multi-mode sensor, weapon sight or seeker architectures, and commercial surveillance.