Adjustable responsivity for thermal infrared detectors

Autor:	Woo Bin Song, Joseph J. Talghader
Rok vydání:	2002
Předmět:	Thermal contact conductance Materials science Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) business.industry Orders of magnitude (temperature) Detector Bolometer Photodetector Microbolometer Thermal conduction law.invention Responsivity Optics law Optoelectronics business
Zdroj:	Applied Physics Letters. 81:550-552
ISSN:	1077-3118 0003-6951
DOI:	10.1063/1.1493223
Popis:	With the recent interest in adaptive IR imaging, focal plane arrays are desired that can operate linearly over an enormous dynamic range. Unfortunately, large signals can cause thermal detectors to operate at temperatures significantly above their ambient resulting in intensity dependent performance or even device damage. In this letter, the responsivity of microbolometer devices is controlled using the detector and substrate as a simple electrostatic actuator. Microbolometers are demonstrated to switch between states that are over a factor of 50 apart in responsivity. The limits of the switching are theoretically separated by four to five orders of magnitude. In addition, intermediate values of responsivity can be obtained by designing devices in which the support beams snap down at lower voltage than the detector plate. Combining this idea with the pressure dependence of the thermal contact conductance, continuous thermal conductance tuning over a factor of 3 is demonstrated.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::bfc379d00d3cf3ff8654a331bc15dde0 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1493223 Zobrazit plný text záznamu