Radiation Effects in InGaAs and Microbolometer Infrared Sensor Arrays for Space Applications

Cobalt60, 60 MeV proton and heavy ion tests have been performed on InGaAs and amorphous silicon microbolometer arrays with CMOS readout circuits. The readout circuits showed latch-up at threshold LETs~14 MeV/mg/cm², but the total dose and displacement damage effects were negligible for low earth orbit conditions. Effects in a microbolometer array tested, for use in Mercury orbit, to 100 krd(Si) and 3.2 10¹¹ 60 MeV p/cm² showed acceptable performance, though there was a significant increase in power consumption for the CMOS readout circuit when biased during cobalt60 irradiation.