High-sensitivity uncooled microcantilever infrared imaging arrays

Scott R. Hunter; Robert A. Amantea; Lawrence A. Goodman; David B. Kharas; Sergey Gershtein; James R. Matey; Steven N. Perna; Young Yu; Nagi Maley; Lawrence K. White

doi:10.1117/12.497576

10 October 2003 High-sensitivity uncooled microcantilever infrared imaging arrays

Scott R. Hunter, Robert A. Amantea, Lawrence A. Goodman, David B. Kharas, Sergey Gershtein, James R. Matey, Steven N. Perna, Young Yu, Nagi Maley, Lawrence K. White

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5074, Infrared Technology and Applications XXIX; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.497576
Event: AeroSense 2003, 2003, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The structure and operation of a new uncooled thermal infrared imaging detector is described which is composed of bimaterial, thermally sensitive microcantilever structures that are the moving elements of variable plate capacitors. The heat sensing microcantilever structures are integrated with CMOS control and amplification electronics to produce a low cost imager that is compatible with silicon IC foundry processing and materials. The bimorph sensor structure is fabricated using amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) as the low thermal expansion coefficient material, and gold as the high thermal expansion coefficient bimaterial (14 x 10^-6/K). Amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide is an ideal material in this application due to its very low thermal conductivity (0.34 W/m-K) and low thermal expansion coefficient (4x10^-6/K). High resistivity (200-400 Ω/sq) thin Ti/W films are used as the infrared resonant cavity absorber and low thermal loss electrical interconnect to the substrate electrical contacts. A temperature coefficient of capacitance, ΔC/C, (equivalent to TCR for microbolometers) above 20% has been measured for these structures, and modeling of the performance of these devices indicates sensor performance in the range NETD < 5 mK and thermal time constants in the 5 -10 msec range are feasible with this technique. Our development efforts have focused on the fabrication of 320 x 240 imaging arrays with 50 micron pitch pixels. A number of these arrays have been fabricated with performance characteristics that are predicted by a detailed thermo-electro-optical-mechanical model of the sensor. The sensor design and the results from measurements of the thermo-electromechanical and optical properties of the detector arrays will be discussed.

Citation Download Citation

Scott R. Hunter, Robert A. Amantea, Lawrence A. Goodman, David B. Kharas, Sergey Gershtein, James R. Matey, Steven N. Perna, Young Yu, Nagi Maley, and Lawrence K. White "High-sensitivity uncooled microcantilever infrared imaging arrays", Proc. SPIE 5074, Infrared Technology and Applications XXIX, (10 October 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.497576

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available