320x240 and 640x480 UFPAs for TWS and DVE applications

Uncooled infrared focal plane arrays

“…Figure shows the trends in pixel reduction. While the pixel pitch of the first microbolometer reported in 1992 was 50 μm , it was reduced to 25 μm by 2002 , 17 μm by 2007 , and 12 μm in 2013 . Today, the most advanced microbolometer IRFPA has a pixel pitch of 10 μm .…”

“…The other was to develop new pixel structures that ensured high fill factor and low thermal conductance simultaneously. The two lower right figures illustrate the second approaches: 3‐level pixel with hidden support leg and 3‐level pixel with umbrella absorber . These technologies have been adopted from the 25‐μm pixel pitch generation.…”

Third-generation sensors for night vision

“…The status of these developments has been documented by suppliers [18][19][20][21][22], and the objectives of the work by a recent Army perspective [23]. Generally, 25-ìm pixel microbolometers are now achieving sensitivities comparable to those common for 50-ìm pixel devices of a few years ago.…”

“…Generally, 25-ìm pixel microbolometers are now achieving sensitivities comparable to those common for 50-ìm pixel devices of a few years ago. Table 1 summarizes results from recent conference papers [18][19][20][21][22]24]. All of the devices listed in Table 1 are microbolometers based upon vanadium oxide (VO x ) thermistors with the exception of Mitsubishi which uses a series of p-n silicon junctions made with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology.…”