HgCdTe APDs for low photon number IR detection

HgCdTe APDs have opened a new horizon in photon starved Infra-Red (IR) applications due to their exceptional performance in terms of high linear gain, low excess noise and high quantum efficiency. The present communication focuses on the performances that can be achieved with these detectors, such as quantum efficiency, gain, dark noise, excess noise, bandwidth and reliability. The obtained performance will be illustrated through a number of application examples obtained already developed imaging arrays and single element detector dedicated to extract the spatial and/or temporal information in a photon flux.