A long-range camera based on an HD MCT array of 12μm pixels

摘要

The development of a new thermal imaging camera, for long range surveillance applications, is described together with the enabling technology. Previous publications have described the development of large arrays of 12μm pixels using Metal Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) grown Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) for wide area surveillance applications. This technology has been leveraged to produce the low cost 1280×720 pixel Medium Wave IR focal plane array at the core of the new camera. Also described is the newly developed, high performance, ×12 continuous zoom lens which, together with the detector, achieves an Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV) of 12.5μrad/pixel enabling long detection, recognition and identification ranges. Novel image processing features, including the turbulence mitigation algorithms deployed in the camera processing electronics, are also addressed. Resultant imagery and performance will be presented.