Development of a SWIR multi-spectral detector for GMES/Sentinel-2

摘要

Within the European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program, the Sentinel-2 mission will provide multi-spectral observations of the Earth surface. The Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) developed by Astrium, on board the Sentinel-2 satellite, includes a SWIR channel. Sofradir is in charge of the development, qualification and manufacturing of the infrared detector basis of this SWIR channel.rnThis development relies on Sofradir heritage in terms of design and production of infrared detectors for space applications, and is based on the building blocks validated by Sofradir in the frame of ESA breadboarding program for SWIR hyper-spectral detector development. What's more, the detector relies on the use of a high reliability 15 μm pitch hybrid Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) technology.rnEach Sentinel-2 SWIR detector (12 detectors/instrument × 2 satellites) is comprised of an MCT elementary detector including 3 detection lines with a length of 1298 pixels with 15 μm pitch for detection in the 1.3-2.3 μm range, and is integrated into a compact sealed package filled with helium. This device will be used in the 170-200K range.rnThis paper describes the design of the Sentinel-2 SWIR detector. It also presents the performances and the first tests carried out on representative models.