Large IR Sensor Peers Deeper into Space

A 2048 x 2048-pixel infrared sensor developed by the Rockwell Science Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is on its way to the University of Hawaii's Institute of Astronomy in Manoa Valley, Oahu. The HgCdTe device, which is sensitive in the 0.9- to 2.5-µm range, was designed to image faint galaxies created shortly after the big bang.

The researchers fabricated the 4-cm-sq array with a low-noise mixed-signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor process developed by Rockwell's partner, Conexant Systems Inc. of Newport Beach, Calif., which made 99.98 percent of the pixels operational. The center plans to develop a 4096 x 4096-pixel version of the sensor.