Small pixel pitch solutions for active and passive imaging

There is a growing interest at reducing the size, weight, power and cost of military systems which often have to contain a large number of thermal and visible electro-optic functions in one camera. In the meantime, Active systems, using a near-infrared pulse laser and a fast, gated detector, are now commonly regarded as potential candidates for application requiring performances beyond ranges usually achieved with thermal imaging. This paper describes three recent developments using DEFIR (Sofradir and CEA-LETI's joint laboratory) MCT e-APD technology that addresses these needs. The first is a 15μm pixel pitch detector that can be switched to operate as a passive thermal imager, a laser-gated imager or a solar flux imager. A second development concerns an ultra-sensitive dual 2D/3D detector providing range information in a dynamic environment. Finally, an ultra high speed solution with a very low floor noise has been set up for applications with fast moving targets or Astronomy instrumentation. MCT e-APD solutions with small pixel pitch open a wide range of potential applications and contribute to bringing new generation EO sensor capability in a compact and lightweight payload configuration with extended performances. Perspectives and ongoing developments are discussed.