FPA Needs for NASA Missions

NASA has identified needs for a broad range of specialized, optimized infrared detectors and IR detector arrays to meet its future mission requirements. Space infrared missions will be conducted in a number of discipline areas, including astrophysics, earth and atmospheric science, planetary systems, and space physics. To allow investigators to meet scientific goals, specific technical requirements for infrared detectors have been developed. These challenging and often unique requirements include, for example, achieving background-limited performance in a cryogenic space telescope; developing long-wave IR arrays which achieve near background-limited performance at elevated (approximately 60 kelvin) operating temperatures; achieving IR arrays with large two-dimensional formats, excellent uniformity and linearity, and low power dissipation; demonstrating an imaging array technology for very long-wavelength (less than 100 microns) IR sensing, and IR devices with extremely low dark current levels; and demonstrating stable, low-noise, low-dissipation readouts. These requirements can in some cases be met by adaptation or extension of technologies originally developed by DoD. In other cases, the novel spectral range or other characteristics require unique solutions. Examples are given of recent scientific results which have been made possible with IR arrays. These serve as a preview of the kinds of science return which can be enabled by advanced IR focal plane technology from space platforms.