By Paul LoVecchio, Paul Norton, and Robert L. Strauss

In many ways, Professor Henry Levinstein was the patron saint of infrared detectors in the United States. His work on detectors was funded without interruption by the Air Force from 1947 to 1977. Even after that Henry did not retire from Syracuse University until 1986, and was kept on as a consultant by the Air Force who valued his advice on all aspects of detector technology. In his academic and research role, Henry educated a very large number of students who went on to become key members of the infrared detector community. That legacy is still important today. Research in his lab led to the production of PbTe detector cells used in many important experiments and demonstrations of the usefulness of infrared technology. The discovery by Henry and his student Seb Borrello in 1961 of mercury-doped germanium led to the first production of long-wavelength infrared imaging arrays in U.S. aircraft for the Air Force and Navy.

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