A Burst-mode Cryogenic Thermal Imager Readout IC with Spatial and Temporal Compression

This paper presents a high-speed global-shutter readout integrated circuit (ROIC), which is designed to capture bursts at up to 5 million frames per second from a 32<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</sup> ×32<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">H</sup> pixel infrared focal plane array (FPA) detector. The ROIC hosts a 1000-frame on-chip analog burst memory bank, and has additional hardware capabilities for on-chip spatial or temporal compression to extend the supported burst recording duration. The system is intended to operate inside a cryostat at liquid nitrogen temperatures, to support high speed thermal imaging in the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) band.