1. Field
This specification relates to a system for reducing or eliminating noise within a detector assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mercury-Cadmium-Telluride Focal Plane Arrays (MCT FPAs) are used for space applications. FPAs are used to capture light or photons from terrestrial bodies to produce digital images. The FPAs detect light or photons and collect the photocharge into pixels using electric fields created by a p-n junction in each pixel. The p-n junction is connected to a read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) which outputs an analog or digital signal. If the signal is an analog signal, the analog signal is converted into a digital value using an analog-to-digital converter. Noise is introduced when capturing photons to create digital images. Various types of noise introduced by the devices and processes to digitize images include readout noise, Johnson noise, photon noise and dark noise.
Noise affects a signal by, for example, adding and/or subtracting from the signal and/or introducing errors that cause incorrect results. By affecting the signal, noise causes the MCT FPA to produce a lower quality digital image.