Spatial-Frequency Image Processing and Enhanced Resolution Using Quantum Cascade Detector with Light-Emitting Diode for Smearing Suppression in Pixelless Infrared Up-Conversion
Abstract
Pixelless infrared imaging devices based on optoelectronic up-conversion offer a compact and scalable alternative to conventional focal plane arrays; however, their performance is fundamentally limited by lateral carrier diffusion, image smearing, and the trade-off between spatial resolution and conversion efficiency. Existing systems employing quantum well infrared phototransistors (QWIPTs) integrated with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) suffer from degraded modulation transfer function (MTF) at high spatial frequencies and restricted design flexibility. In this article, a quantum cascade detector (QCD)-LED pixelless imaging architecture is proposed and comprehensively modeled as a next-generation alternative. A unified analytical framework is developed to describe carrier concentration, modulation transfer function, image resolution, and image conversion efficiency (ICE) in QCD-LED systems under spatially modulated far-infrared illumination. The models explicitly account for cascade transport, diffusion-drift dynamics, photon recycling, and radiative recombination, enabling direct comparison with conventional QWIPT-LED imagers. Numerical investigations reveal that multi-stage cascade transport significantly suppresses lateral carrier spreading, resulting in a pronounced enhancement in spatial-frequency response. The proposed QCD-LED architecture demonstrates a >32.5% improvement in maximum MTF, a 32.5% increase in conversion efficiency, and a 25% enhancement in response…
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