The main objectives of this activity are:- To design, manufacture and characterise (as necessary) MCT test structures to demonstrate the material parameters compliant with specification- To design and manufacture MCT array detectors to the requirements specified- Design and manufacture support equipment as necessary to operate, test and characterise the manufactured detectors.- Test and characterise the manufactured detectors to an agreed test plan with reference to the requirements specified.

Mercury cadmium telluride has proved itself as the material of choice for infrared detectors in the short and medium wave regions of the spectrum. A wide range of device designs are available with varying parameters and of varying sizes. Space missions are utilising these devices but studies of future requirements have identified the need for larger area, high-resolution, very low noise detector arrays that are currently not available within Europe. This activity is the first in an anticipated series of developments that aims to culminate in the availability of a flight quality 2k x 2k large-format NIR detector hybrid and custom ASIC controller. This particular activity aims to develop a prototype detector hybrid as the initial step towards meeting this goal.The wider context of this activity within a larger development programme should be noted. In particular there is the ultimate aim to ensure that a large format NIR detector array is available from an industrialised process within Europe.TThe programme of work is divided into two phases. Suggested tasks for each phase are detailed below.Phase 1 - MCT Material Performance DemonstrationThe work for phase 1 is organised into three tasks as follows:1.1 Detector requirements analysis1.2 Test plan preparation1.3 MCT material demonstrationPhase 2 - Detector Manufacture, Test and CharacterisationThe work for phase 2 is organised into six tasks as follows:2.1 Preliminary detector design and trade-off study.2.2 Test Plan preparation and test bench design.2.3 Detailed detector design.2.4 Test bench preparation2.5 Detector manufacture.2.6 Detector test and characterisation.