Compact multichannel infrared camera integrated in an operational detector dewar cooler assembly

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Infrared Technology
• Cryogenic Systems

Background:

• Development of compact imaging systems for cryogenic applications is crucial for space and defense.
• Integrating imaging capabilities into existing detector dewar cooler assemblies (DDCA) presents miniaturization challenges.
• Multichannel optical architectures offer potential for increased resolution but introduce alignment complexities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an ultracompact infrared cryogenic camera integrated into a standard DDCA.
• To evaluate the performance and limitations of a multichannel optical design for enhanced resolution.
• To demonstrate a method for combining multiple images into a single, high-resolution output.

Main Methods:

• Integration of a multichannel optical system with a 120° field of view into a Sofradir DDCA.
• Utilizing a SCORPIO detector with a 15 μm pixel pitch to capture four nonredundant images.
• Development and application of an image-processing algorithm to combine channel images.

Main Results:

• The integrated camera exhibits a cool-down time comparable to non-imaging DDCA systems.
• A single, full-resolution image was reconstructed with an equivalent sampling pitch of 7.5 μm.
• Experimental measurements confirmed good optical performance, including modulation transfer function and noise equivalent temperature difference.

Conclusions:

• The presented ultracompact infrared cryogenic camera successfully integrates advanced imaging into a standard DDCA.
• The multichannel approach, despite optical tolerance challenges, enables significant resolution enhancement through image processing.
• The system achieves good optical performance, making it suitable for demanding cryogenic imaging applications.