IRCCD cooled with thermoelectric cooler

For a low cost approach, thermoelectric coolers have often been thought of because of their solid state structure offering low fabrication cost and zero maintenance for cooling down detectors sensitive in the 3 to 5 micrometers spectral band. The performance of such detection assemblies is highly dependent on the achievable cold temperature due to the contribution of dark current in the 200 K operating temperature range. Drawbacks of such an approach reside in the input power required to maintain the detector temperature in adverse environmental temperature conditions. In the aim of evaluating and improving such detectors, Sofradir has established a program leading to the realization of a thermoelectrically cooled detection assembly for field operation, based on its standard 128 X 128 and 288 X 4 IRCCDs. Results are presented here.