Hybrid infrared focal plane signal and noise model

A signal and noise model is presented for an infrared sensor with an advanced hybrid focal plane that uses a CMOS readout integrated circuit (ROIC). Part of the motivation for this work is to present a clear foundation for some of the well-known practical and useful rules that apply to infrared sensors in use today. The model shows explicitly how a correlated double sampler (CDS) eliminates kTC noise, explains the interesting dependence of output 1/f noise on integration and epoch times, and is generic enough to treat a large class of ROIC preamps. A sensor with a direct injection readout is treated as an example and user-friendly formulas are listed and used to calculate sensor signal and noise.