Experiment analysis of CO2 laser disturbance on long-wave infrared HgCdTe detector

Theoretical analysis and experimental study were carried out on the high-power CO₂ laser disturbance to long-wave infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe detector in this paper. Based on the practical parameters of experiment, the theoretical model of temperature-rise is adopted to calculate the variation of the temperature with the time and the power of laser for laser irradiation on the detector. After that, the high-power laser damage mechanism to LWIR detector is discussed, and compares with the experimental results of laser irradiation the detector on the distance of 15km. The theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the interference threshold of the detector is 20.5W/cm²; the damage threshold is 110W/cm². This experimental phenomenon well agrees with the results predicted by the theoretical calculation. The conclusions have a certain reference value for the laser defense of detector.