Unit cell with fan-out for large focal plane arrays with small detector pitch

Abstract

A unit cell including a substrate; an active circuit disposed on the substrate; and an arrangement disposed on the substrate for routing a plurality of conductors thereover. In the illustrative implementation, the routing arrangement includes first, second and third ground planes disposed on the substrate, a first layer of conductors disposed between the first and second planes, and a second layer of conductors disposed between the second and the third planes. Each cell is adapted to connect to a device such as a detector. The inventive unit cell enables an improved focal plane array design with a smaller unit cell supporting smaller detector sizes. Smaller detector pitch allows higher density detector arrays. The inventive fan-out approach allows for complicated circuitry to be located outside the array. This permits the utilization of more sophisticated analog signed processing, such as a multiple sample approach. Multiple sampling results in a much more accurate digital Gaussian curvefit, which increases the range and intensity accuracy of readout electronics.