Wide-band imaging for enhanced day and night vision

Conor Rafferty; Clifford King; Bryan Ackland; Jason Sproul; Ingvar Aberg; Jay O'Neill; T. S. Sriram; Corbin Godek; Analisa Lattes; Seth Pappas; Arnie Buck; Vasilije Jovanovic

doi:10.1117/12.850514

3 May 2010 Wide-band imaging for enhanced day and night vision

Conor Rafferty, Clifford King, Bryan Ackland, Jason Sproul, Ingvar Aberg, Jay O'Neill, T. S. Sriram, Corbin Godek, Analisa Lattes, Seth Pappas, Arnie Buck, Vasilije Jovanovic

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7660, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVI; 76600M (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.850514
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2010, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Visible-band cameras using silicon imagers provide excellent video under daylight conditions, but become blind at night. The night sky provides illumination from 1-2 μm which cannot be detected with a silicon sensor. Adding short-wave infrared detectors to a CMOS imager would enable a camera which can be used day or night. A germanium-enhanced CMOS imager (TriWave®) has been developed with broadband sensitivity from 0.4 μm to 1.6 μm. A 744 x 576 format imager with 10 μm pixel pitch provides a large field of view without incurring a size and weight penalty in the optics. The small pixel size is achieved by integrating a germanium photodetector into a mainstream CMOS process. A sensitive analog signal chain provides a noise floor of 5 electrons. The imagers are hermetically packaged with a thermo-electric cooler in a windowed metal package 5 cm³ in volume. A compact (<650 cm³) camera core has been designed around the imager. Camera functions implemented include correlated double sampling, dark frame subtraction and non-uniformity corrections. In field tests, videos recorded with different filters in daylight show useful fog and haze penetration over long distances. Under clear moonless conditions, short-wave infrared (SWIR) images recorded with TriWave make visible individuals that cannot be seen in videos recorded simultaneously using an EMCCD. Band-filtered videos confirm that the night-sky illumination is dominated by wavelengths above 1200 nm.

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Conor Rafferty, Clifford King, Bryan Ackland, Jason Sproul, Ingvar Aberg, Jay O'Neill, T. S. Sriram, Corbin Godek, Analisa Lattes, Seth Pappas, Arnie Buck, and Vasilije Jovanovic "Wide-band imaging for enhanced day and night vision", Proc. SPIE 7660, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVI, 76600M (3 May 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.850514

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KEYWORDS

Cameras

Imaging systems

Sensors

Electron multiplying charge coupled devices

Germanium

Photons

Video

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