General Electric Company

United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Martin D Gibbons

Samuel C Wang

Michael L Winn

John M Swab

Marshall K Quick

Richard W Aldrich

Kenneth J Fuhr

Gordon H Danielson

A novel readout circuit for a charge injection device is disclosed permitting selection of the integration time to optimize performance. A primary application of the invention is to IR sensing in which performance is required at both low and very high levels of radiation. The readout circuit, in one practical configuration, utilizes a dump pulse recurring at the interval required to scan all elements, in advance of the read pulse also recurring at the scanning interval. The integration time may be adjusted in multiples of the readout period for a single element up to the frame scanning interval, or in approximate fractions of the readout period for a single element, or, at the limit, in a fraction of a microsecond.

Integration time control for a radiation sensitive charge injection

A readout circuit for IR sensing charge injection devices (CID) is disclosed, the CID comprising a two-dimensional array of dual-gate sensing sites on an InSb or HgCdTe substrate. The novel readout circuit, which operates in the charge sharing mode (CSM) in extracting image information, is modified to correct for the subtractive effect present when the CSM mode is used. The readout circuit includes a plurality of processors, one for each column, from which a single serial output may be obtained by a demultiplexer, and into which signals derived from successive pixel sites on the associated column are coupled. A first quantity representing the subtractive error is obtained without injection from each column line by double sampling during a first interval. A second quantity representing the signal corrected for subtractive error is obtained with injection from a pixel site by double sampling during a second interval, the samples being increased by the error quantity. The subtractive error compensation may be applied in cases involving either unsaturated or saturated signal fields.

Readout circuit for dual-gate CID imagers with charge sharing corrected

The invention relates to a read and clear readout circuit and a method of operation of an IR sensing array. The invention eliminates 'readout circuit lag' which reduces transient response for an individual sensor, and reduces angular resolution of an array. 'Readout circuit lag' also emphasizes longer duration IR background causing unwanted saturation and restriction of the dynamic range. Readout circuit lag arises from the capacitance of the sensor elements and the capacitance of the readout circuit at a node to which the sensor elements are periodically coupled for readout, the IR induced charge being partitioned between these capacitances, with that attributable to the sensor capacitance not being injected, causing readout circuit lag. Elimination of such lag is achieved by following each readout step, with a clear or clear and skim step that removes charge to the clear level or to the skim level, precluding the lag earlier described.

Read and clear readout circuit and method of operation of an IR sensing

A moving target indicator apparatus utilizing charge injector device (CID) sensors to detect the presence or absence of a moving target. A signal from a possible target site in the sensor array is measured during a flow scan and is processed with the signal return from a second scan to determine absence or presence and direction.

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Camillus, NY, United States of America

Martin D Gibbons