Integrated uncooled infrared detector imaging arrays

New frontiers for infrared

“…For the above reasons, work on un−cooled infrared detectors has shown an impressive growth since the first developments, allowing the real expectation for a production of low cost, high performance detector arrays which finally should fol− low the rules of a real global market, opening a real market for civil applications following the winning rules of silicon microelectronics, taking care of some physical and techno− logical limitations and other new chances to be forecasted. For these reasons the emerging room temperature detectors in the 70's by the use of pyroelectric materials [23] which show the limitations of not being fully monolithic, but the more innovative room temperature silicon microbolometers appearing on the IR scene in 1990, are a real breakthrough for future IR sensors, opening a real market for civil applica− tions [24]. This completely new approach based on micro− −systems technology (MST) is showing excellent perfor− mances and seems to have very promising future develop− ments [30].…”

“…Monolithic silicon FPA's have been fabricated by realizing silicon based bolom− eters in microminiature form by etching a thin bridge bo− lometer layer connected by two thin legs to the underlying sili− con substrate [24]. This technology is moreover showing the advance, being integratable with silicon technology, of having the detectors read out circuits enabling a maximum in the fill− ing factor.…”

“…9. Microbolometers: scheme of microbolometres [24] and CREO linear arrays of large area microbolometres (active area 280×5000 microns) responsivity >100 V/W detectivity D * lp >10 9 cm Hz 1/2 /W with high signal to noise ratio [36].…”

Thermal Imaging Device using Infrared-to-Visible Converter Made of Temperature Sensitive Phosphor

“…The thermal type device detects the temperature change of a thermally-isolated microstructure induced by an incoming IR. The conventional thermal type devices use electrical ways to detect the temperature change of the microstructure such as using a thermistor [1], a PN diode [2], a thermo-pile [3] and pyroelectric effect [4]. However, these devices should be fabricated on a read out integrated circuit (ROIC), which makes a fabrication difficult and thus the fabrication cost increases.…”

CMOS Compatible Midinfrared Wavelength-Selective Thermopile for High Temperature Applications

“…N RECENT years, infrared (IR) sensors fabricated with complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible process are widely used for various applications [1]- [3]. CMOS compatible IR sensors have relatively small footprint, lower weight and faster response speed.…”