Detector considerations for the LIFE mission

The Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE) is a formation-flying mission for enabling the detection and characterization of potentially dozens of Earth-sized planets at thermal infrared wavelengths. The mission will need to sieve science signals which are many orders of magnitude fainter than competing systematics, and the science detector itself will contribute potentially highly variable noise terms. We present requirements for detector read noise, quantum efficiency, and other detector characteristics, for observations of potential LIFE targets. We compare mission needs with detectors available on the market, or in development, and include a discussion of the ramifications on the surrounding mission design. Expected high-level noise budgets and predicted planet yields based on detector type are presented, and we conclude with a discussion of the most relevant future avenues in detector development and eventual integration.