Viability of layered-hybrid architecture for far IR focal-plane arrays

The standard planar hybrid architecture, commonly used to construct near and mid-infrared focal-plane arrays, is not suitable for far IR detectors where readout glow, lack of efficient heat dissipation, and thermal mismatch between the detector and the readout could potentially limit their performance. In response, a new layered-hybrid structure was introduced to alleviate these problems and make possible the construction of large format far IR FPAs. To assess the viability of this design, we have fabricated and tested a prototype 2 × 16 Ge:Sb array coupled to a 1 × 32 SBRC190 cryogenic readout in a construction similar to the layered-hybrid. In this paper we present the results of our tests which prove the effectiveness of the layered-hybrid structure in blocking the readout glow and providing uniform cooling across the array.