Numerical Simulation of the Modulation Transfer Function in HgCdTe Detector Arrays

In this work, we develop a method for simulating the modulation transfer function (MTF) of infrared detector arrays, which is based on numerical evaluation of the detector physics. The finite-difference time-domain and finite element methods are used to solve the electromagnetic and electrical equations for the device, respectively. We show how the total MTF can be deconvolved to examine the effects of specific physical processes. We introduce the MTF area difference and use it to quantify the effectiveness of several crosstalk mitigation techniques in improving the system MTF. We then apply our simulation methods to two-thirds generation mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detector architectures. The methodology is general, can be implemented with commercially available software, has experimentally realizable analogs, and is extendable to other material systems and device designs.