<title>Infrared (IR) Focal Planes-The Army's Concerns</title>

The potential utility of integrated focal planes to the Army's second-generation IR imagers is well established. Over the past four years, the Night Vision and Electro-Optics Laboratory has initiated several hardware-development programs designed to integrate large detector arrays with CCD signal processing in one structure. These programs focused on general architecture design and fabrication feasibility, i.e., the electrical/mechanical interface between detector and CCD for various IR backgrounds and scan techniques. Although not all the architecture problems are completely solved, the attention is now turning toward the more practical aspects of implementing focal plane technology, such as economical testing and device reliability. Test procedures, relatively trivial for low-density linear arrays, are neither simple nor standard for the high-density detector/CCD mosaics. The reliability of the sensor will depend on both the inherent quality and the stability of the detector/CCD structure and the integrity of the dewar assembly. New materials and processes, possible metallurgical incompatibility, and uncertain limits on anneal and bakeout temperatures are all factors in estimating the sensor's operating life. This paper reviews some of the unresolved technical issues concerning advanced focal planes and addresses the Army's concern with testing and predicting reliability of the second-generation sensor.