INFRARED DETECTORS

Infrared detectors have wide application in a range of industry sectors, including defence, astronomy, medicine, environmental safety, and remote sensing. The applications requiring the highest sensitivity over a broad spectrum of wavelengths are usually based on the high performance mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) ternary alloy, since HgCdTe-based detector performance dominates others in the mid-wave and long-wave infrared spectrum.

HgCdTe is the dominant material currently in use for infrared (IR) focal-plane-array (FPA) technology. The subject is vast: IR systems combine a wide variety of disciplines, and image interpretation depends on the precise understanding of various phenomena. It has  been predicted that, because of its excellent properties, HgCdTe technology will continue to expand the range of its applications well into the future.