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Did you know how an infrared focal plane array can capture the light of distant galaxies in space?
In modern astronomy, infrared focal plane arrays (FPA) are a key technology that allow us to capture the faint light of distant galaxies. These arrays consist of thousands of light-sensitive pixels mounted at the focal plane of the lens and are specifically designed to detect light from deep within the universe. At the same time, the design and material selection of these pixels not only affects the quality of imaging, but is also critical to the ability to capture celestial objects.
As a shooting device, the focal plane array (FPA) first needs to accurately detect photons of a specific wavelength, and then generate charges based on the number of photons detected by each pixel.
Compared with scanning arrays, the advantage of FPA is that it can directly capture the required field of view without scanning, which makes it shine in astronomical observations and military applications. The scanning array requires a rotating or swinging mirror to present a continuous image, while the FPA is like a camera film and can capture 2D images at once. Today, modern infrared focal plane arrays are capable of delivering up to 2048 x 2048 pixels, increasing their size and affordability for common non-military applications such as manufacturing inspection and medical imaging.
The difficulty in producing high-quality, high-resolution FPA arrays lies in the materials used. Unlike visible light imagers, infrared sensors must be made from other, more exotic materials, such as mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe), indium antimony (InSb), etc.
The particularity of these materials makes it difficult to obtain large enough single crystals during the production process, further affecting the imaging accuracy. This also means that the manufacturing cost of infrared focal plane arrays is much higher than that of visible light imagers. More importantly, these infrared technologies often have inhomogeneities in the captured signals. Each pixel may have a different electrical response to the same number of photons, which makes the image must go through a series of corrections and processing before it can be usable. effect.
This non-uniformity means that the images captured by FPA are not practical without processing. These images can only be used after special correction processing.
Infrared focal plane arrays are used in a wide range of applications, including aviation rockets, missile systems and even deep space exploration. For example, the development of 3D LIDAR imaging technology also includes the use of FPA, which can accurately capture the depth and shape of targets. In addition, continuous technological improvements have reduced cross talk between pixels within the array, which helps improve image quality and accuracy.
Some current research may focus on reducing the crosstalk problem between adjacent pixels through improved substrate design.
In this way, the quality of images captured by FPA will be further improved, providing astronomers with more accurate data to explore the mysteries of the universe. Especially when observing distant and faint galaxies, the precision and efficiency of this technology allow us to get a glimpse of the wonders of the universe.
As infrared focal plane array technology continues to advance and manufacturers conduct in-depth research on materials and structures, we will be able to capture more details of the universe at higher resolutions and at lower costs in the future. These advances not only support scientific research, but also enable these high-end technologies to gradually enter daily life, thereby changing our understanding of the world. We can’t help but ask, how will these technologies help us unlock more mysteries of the universe in the future?
