The Advantages Of MCT As An IR Imaging Material

By Leonardo DRS

Cooled infrared imaging is in many ways a mature technology, with its architectures well-defined and its past and present applications well-understood. Nevertheless, opportunities abound for:

• Improving range and resolution while reducing cost, device size, weight and power (SWaP).
• Expanding IR imaging’s applications for users in the military, homeland security and commercial realms.

Perhaps no other variable is as important to this equation as the detector material itself. Today, many users, industry leaders and scientists agree that the best semiconductor material for capitalizing on these opportunities is Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT), or HgCdTe.