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E.F. Erickson, J.L. Dotson, C.G. Mason, C.T. Koerber, A.K. Prasad, F.C. Witteborn (NASA/ARC), D. Rabanus (U.Berlin), E.T. Young (UAz)
We are developing a 16x24 detector array to cover the 40-120 \mum wavelength range for AIRES, the Airborne InfraRed Echelle Spectrometer for SOFIA. Here we describe the design, fabrication, and assembly of a 2x24 prototype module for this array, and the other components required for the full array. The detectors are discrete bulk Ge:Sb photoconductors with 1 mm interelectrode separation. The array pitch is 2 mm. Each detector is housed in an integrating cavity, optically fed by a straight-sided light cone. Two 1x32 SBRC 190 cryogenic multiplexers are mounted in close proximity to the detectors in each 2x24 module, to transmit the detector signals to warm electronics outside the cryostat. The system is being designed to reach background-limited performance with a resolving power of 104 at 100 \mum on SOFIA. Design considerations and existing hardware will be described.