Raytheon picks SWIR camera from Quantum Imaging for electro-optical sensors in tactical imaging applications
McKINNEY, Texas – Electro-optical surveillance experts at the Raytheon Co. needed a high-definition short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera for tactical imaging applications. They found their solution from Quantum Imaging Inc. in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Officials of the Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems segment in McKinney, Texas, have awarded a $13.5 million order to Quantum Imaging for a high-definition SWIR camera for tactical imaging applications.
Quantum Imaging uses on-chip processing and offers resolution of 1280-by-1024-pixels. The camera is based on a sensor designed and manufactured by Quantum Imaging parent company SemiConductor Devices (SCD) in Misgav, Israel.
"Our strategy is to leverage SCD's cutting-edge sensors to significantly improve the performance of imaging and night vision systems used for both military and commercial applications," says Mark Fydenkevez, president and CEO of Quantum Imaging.
Related: Army chooses airborne electro-optical sensor payloads for reconnaissance from L-3 Wescam
Raytheon engineers will apply Quantum Imaging SWIR cameras to enhance a family of products that provides detailed intelligence data from the visual and infrared spectrum to support U.S. military, civilian and allied missions.
Quantum Imaging manufactures the QI-SWIR-HD10 miniaturized high-definition SWIR camera module that images in the spectral range of 0.5 to 1.7 microns. The camera uses an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detector with 10-by-10-micron pixel pitch and integral antiblooming.
On-board correlated double sampling delivers a dynamic range in excess of 70dB with read noise of less than 40 rms electrons in cooled operation making it suitable for light-starved applications.
Available with 16 bit CameraLink and analog NTSC output, the QI-SWIR-HD10 will run from 30 to 60 frames per second. Automatic gain and exposure control are available to optimize image quality over a large range of imaging conditions.
A proprietary non-uniformity correction NUC provides high quality imagery over -40 to 70 degrees Celsius operating conditions. The camera also operates either in a conventional SWIR imaging mode, or in asynchronous laser pulse detection (ALPD).
In ALPD mode, the detector serves as a two-dimensional sensor that can capture short-duration laser pulses and provide the x-y position of those pulses during the day and at night.
For more information contact Quantum Imaging online at https://quantumimaging.com, or Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems at www.raytheon.com.
