An Uncooled Infrared Microbolometer Array for Low-Cost Applications

Shan, Ning; Yu, Jun; Tang, Zhiyuan

doi:10.1109/lpt.2015.2413676

Cited by 19 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Microbolometers based on standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes have the attractive advantages over VOx/α-Si bolometers, such as they can integrate both detectors and readout circuits and achieve outstanding uniformity that other technologies cannot achieve [17]. The microbolometer employed p+-active/nwell diode is designed using a standard 0.35 µm CMOS process and a simple post-CMOS process [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Various Thermistors on the Properties of Resistive Microbolometers Fabricated by CMOS Process

Guo

Jiang

et al. 2022

Micromachines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microbolometers based on the CMOS process has the important advantage of being automatically merged with circuits in the fabrication of larger arrays, but they typically suffer from low detectivity due to the difficulty in realizing high-sensitivity thermistors in the CMOS process. In this paper, two resistive microbolometers based on polysilicon and metal Al thermistors, respectively, are designed and fabricated by the standard CMOS process. Experimental results show that the detectivity of the two resistive microbolometers can reach a maximum of 1.78 ´ 109 cmHz1/2/W at 25 μA and a maximum of 6.2 ´ 108 cmHz1/2/W at 267 μA. The polysilicon microbolometer exhibits better detectivity at lower bias current due to its lower effective thermal conductivity and larger resistance. Even though the thermal time constant of the polysilicon thermistor is three times slower than that of the metal Al thermistor, the former is more suitable for designing a thermal imaging system with sensitive and low power consumption.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Various Thermistors on the Properties of Resistive Microbolometers Fabricated by CMOS Process

Guo

Jiang

et al. 2022

Micromachines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The bolometer-type uncooled infrared image sensor has recently been researched in various fields such as defense, medical care, and non-destructive testing [1,2,3]. Uncooled infrared image sensors have many advantages in terms of low power consumption, easy integration, and low cost [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Among the various uncooled infrared image sensors, the bolometer sensor based on micromachining technology has a higher temperature coefficient of resistance than other sensors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Averaging Pixel Current Adjustment Technique for Reducing Fixed Pattern Noise in the Bolometer-Type Uncooled Infrared Image Sensor

Kim

Choi

Lee

et al. 2019

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, we propose an averaging pixel current adjustment technique for reducing fixed pattern noise (FPN) in the bolometer-type uncooled infrared image sensor. The averaging pixel current adjustment technique is composed of active pixel, reference pixel, and calibration circuit. Polysilicon resistors were used in each active pixel and reference pixel. Resistance deviation among active pixels integrated with the same resistance value cause FPN. The principle of the averaging pixel current adjustment technique for removing FPN is based on the subtraction of dark current of the active pixel from the dark current of the reference pixel. The subtracted current is converted into the voltage, which contains pixel calibration information. The calibration circuit is used to adjust the calibration current. After calibration, the nano-ampere current is output with small deviation. The proposed averaging pixel current adjustment technique is implemented by a chip composed of a pixel array, a calibration circuit, average current generators, and readout circuits. The chip was fabricated using a standard 0.35 μm CMOS process and its performance was evaluated.

show abstract

Amorphous SiSn Alloy: Another Candidate Material for Temperature Sensing Layers in Uncooled Microbolometers

ElGhonimy

Abdel‐Rahman

Hezam

et al. 2021

Physica Status Solidi (b)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Herein, the prospect of using amorphous Si1–x Sn x alloys as alternative temperature‐sensing active materials in microbolometers is evaluated by studying their temperature‐dependent resistive properties along with their infrared optical properties. Si1–x Sn x thin films (200 nm thick), with varying Sn concentrations, are prepared at room temperature by cosputtering from Si and Sn targets using simultaneous radio frequency and DC magnetron sputter deposition. Low beam energy X‐ray microanalysis is used to estimate the atomic concentrations of the prepared films. Atomic force microscopy analysis shows an increase in the root‐mean‐square surface roughness of the prepared Si1–x Sn x thin films, with increasing Sn content. Sheet resistance versus temperature measurements are performed yielding temperature coefficients of resistance of 3.25, 2.65, and 1.72% K−1 at resistivity values of 116.18, 27.36, and 2.34 Ω cm for Sn concentrations of 35%, 44%, and 48%, respectively. Infrared ellipsometry measurements are performed to extract the optical properties of the Si1–x Sn x thin films and optical simulations confirm that a Fabry–Pérot cavity microbolometer configuration containing an Si1–x Sn x thin film can achieve high absorptance in the 8–12 μm band. This study shows that Si1–x Sn x alloys are a suitable, simple, and low‐cost replacement for thermometer layers used in uncooled infrared microbolometers.

show abstract

An Uncooled Infrared Microbolometer Array for Low-Cost Applications

Cited by 19 publications

References 9 publications

Impact of Various Thermistors on the Properties of Resistive Microbolometers Fabricated by CMOS Process

Impact of Various Thermistors on the Properties of Resistive Microbolometers Fabricated by CMOS Process

Averaging Pixel Current Adjustment Technique for Reducing Fixed Pattern Noise in the Bolometer-Type Uncooled Infrared Image Sensor

Amorphous SiSn Alloy: Another Candidate Material for Temperature Sensing Layers in Uncooled Microbolometers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About