Abstract

Benefiting from close to ideal amplification properties (high gain, low dark current, and low excess noise factor), HgCdTe electron initiated avalanche photodiode (e-APD) technology exhibits state of the art sensitivity, thus being especially relevant for applications relying on low light level detection, such as LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). In addition, the tunable gap of the ${\mathrm{Hg}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Cd}}_x\mathrm{Te}$ alloy enables coverage of the short wavelength infrared (SWIR) and especially the 2 μm spectral range. For these two reasons, a HgCdTe e-APD based detector is a promising candidate for future differential absorption LIDAR missions targeting greenhouse gas absorption bands in SWIR. In this study, we report on the design and evaluation of such a HgCdTe e-APD based detector. The first part focuses on detector architecture and performance. Key figures of merit are: 2.8 μm cutoff wavelength, 200 μm diameter almost circular sensitive area, 185 K operating temperature (thermo-electric cooling), 22 APD gain (at 12 V reverse bias), $360\mathrm{k\Omega }$ transimpedance gain, and $60\mathrm{fW}{\mathrm{Hz}}^{-0.5}$ noise equivalent power (at 12 V reverse bias). The second part presents an analysis of atmospheric LIDAR signals obtained by mounting the HgCdTe e-APD based detector on the 2 μm differential absorption LIDAR developed at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique and dedicated to ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ monitoring. Discussion emphasizes random and systematic errors in LIDAR measurements regarding breadboard detector characterization. In particular, we investigate the influence of parasitic tails in detector impulse response on short range DIAL measurements.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

HgCdTe avalanche photodiode detectors for airborne and spaceborne lidar at infrared wavelengths

Xiaoli Sun, James B. Abshire, Jeffrey D. Beck, Pradip Mitra, Kirk Reiff, and Guangning Yang
Opt. Express 25(14) 16589-16602 (2017)

Feasibility study of a space-based high pulse energy 2 μm CO₂ IPDA lidar

Upendra N. Singh, Tamer F. Refaat, Syed Ismail, Kenneth J. Davis, Stephan R. Kawa, Robert T. Menzies, and Mulugeta Petros
Appl. Opt. 56(23) 6531-6547 (2017)

Development of 1.6 μm DIAL using an OPG/OPA transmitter for measuring atmospheric CO₂ concentration profiles

Yasukuni Shibata, Chikao Nagasawa, and Makoto Abo
Appl. Opt. 56(4) 1194-1201 (2017)

Upconversion detector for range-resolved DIAL measurement of atmospheric CH₄

Lichun Meng, Andreas Fix, Martin Wirth, Lasse Høgstedt, Peter Tidemand-Lichtenberg, Christian Pedersen, and Peter John Rodrigo
Opt. Express 26(4) 3850-3860 (2018)

Ground-based, integrated path differential absorption LIDAR measurement of CO₂, CH₄, and H₂O near 1.6 μm

Gerd A. Wagner and David F. Plusquellic
Appl. Opt. 55(23) 6292-6310 (2016)