Measurement of Reciprocity Failure in Near Infrared Detectors

TL;DR

This paper investigates the reciprocity failure in near-infrared HgCdTe detectors, quantifying its flux dependence and impact on photometric precision, which is crucial for improving infrared astronomical instruments.

Contribution

The study presents a dedicated test system to measure reciprocity failure and reports the first quantification of its flux dependence in HgCdTe detectors.

Findings

Reciprocity failure sensitivity of ~0.1%/decade between 1 and 50,000 photons/s

Measured a wavelength-independent non-linearity of ~0.35%/decade in a 1.7 micron HgCdTe detector

Identified reciprocity failure as a significant factor affecting infrared detector performance

Abstract

Flux dependent non-linearity (reciprocity failure) in HgCdTe near infrared detectors can severely impact an instrument's performance, in particular with respect to precision photometric measurements. The cause of this effect is presently not understood. To investigate reciprocity failure, a dedicated test system was built. For flux levels between 1 and 50,000 photons/s, a sensitivity to reciprocity failure of approximately 0.1%/decade was achieved. A wavelength independent non-linearity due to reciprocity failure of about 0.35%/decade was measured in a 1.7 micron HgCdTe detector.