Radiometric and Spatial Calibration of a Multi-purpose Infrared Test Bed

A multi-purpose test bed was developed to support electro-optical characterization of large area SWIR and MWIR focal planes. Included in the test bed is a high-speed linear stage containing 4 independent black body sources that can be used for precise radiometric characterization of IR FPAs and to simulate on-orbit calibration scenarios in real time. A static imaging system allows spatial test patterns to be imaged onto the IR FPA, with the ability to add a uniform background. This capability aids in the validation of optical crosstalk performance of the FPA under test and supports single pixel blooming measurements. A second imaging system is used to generate dynamic 2D spatial IR scenes. Custom metalized IR targets were created from high resolution aerial images and a programmable scanning mirror is deployed to translate the spatial target scene across the IR FPA. This test bed was recently used to characterize the performance of a large area IR FPA made up of a staggered-offset arrangement of multi-band MWIR sensor chip assemblies. Key elements of the design and calibration of this multi-purpose infrared test bed will be presented.