In situ optical testing of infrared lenses for high-performance cameras.

We propose to evaluate infrared lenses with a dedicated analyzer having the same mechanical interface as the usual cameras. The proposed analysis is based on a wavefront measurement and allows a diagnostic of possible internal defects of the analyzed lens. The infrared lens analyzer described is constituted with a quadriwave lateral shearing interferometer and works with a blackbody light. We describe the response of this interferometer and an innovative method to obtain the wavefront under test. We finally present the experimental analysis of long-wavelength infrared lenses and the particular case of a modified lens that generates a large spherical aberration.

Modulation transfer function measurement of an infrared focal plane array by use of the self-imaging property of a canted periodic target.

We present a new technique for measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a focal plane array (FPA). The main idea is to project a periodic pattern of thin lines that are canted with respect to the sensor's columns. Practically, one aims the projection by using the self-imaging property of a periodic target. The technique, called the canted periodic target test, has been validated experimentally on a specific infrared FPA, leading to MTF evaluation to as great as five times the Nyquist frequency.