Optomechanical uncooled infrared imaging system: design, microfabrication, and performance

Optomechanical uncooled infrared imaging system: design, microfabrication, and performance. Zhao, Y., Mao, M., Horowitz, R., Majumdar, A., Varesi, J., Norton, P., & Kitching, J. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 11:136-146, April 2002, 2002.
abstract bibtex

This paper presents the design, fabrication and performance of an uncooled micro-optomechanical infrared (IR) imaging system consisting of a focal-plane array (FPA) containing bi-material cantilever pixels made of silicon nitride (SiNx) and gold (Au), which serve as infrared absorbers and thermomechanical transducers. Based on wave optics, a visible optical readout system is designed to simultaneously measure the deflections of all the cantilever beams in the FPA and project the visible deflection map onto a visible charge-coupled device (CCD) imager. The IR imaging results suggest that the detection resolution of current design is 3-5 K, whereas noise analysis indicates the current resolution to be around 1 K. The noise analysis also shows that the theoretical noise-equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of the system can be below 3 mK

@article {749,
	title = {Optomechanical uncooled infrared imaging system: design, microfabrication, and performance},
	journal = {Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems},
	volume = {11},
	year = {2002},
	month = {April 2002},
	pages = {136-146},
	abstract = {This paper presents the design, fabrication and performance of an uncooled micro-optomechanical infrared (IR) imaging system consisting of a focal-plane array (FPA) containing bi-material cantilever pixels made of silicon nitride (SiNx) and gold (Au), which serve as infrared absorbers and thermomechanical transducers. Based on wave optics, a visible optical readout system is designed to simultaneously measure the deflections of all the cantilever beams in the FPA and project the visible deflection map onto a visible charge-coupled device (CCD) imager. The IR imaging results suggest that the detection resolution of current design is 3-5 K, whereas noise analysis indicates the current resolution to be around 1 K. The noise analysis also shows that the theoretical noise-equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of the system can be below 3 mK},
	keywords = {beam deflection, CCD image sensors, CCD imager, focal plane array, focal planes, Gold, Image analysis, Image resolution, infrared absorber, infrared imaging, micro-optics, microfabrication, microsensors, noise equivalent temperature difference, Optical device fabrication, Optical devices, Optical imaging, Optical noise, Pixel, silicon, silicon nitride/gold bi-material cantilever pixels, SiN-Au, thermomechanical transducer, uncooled micro-optomechanical infrared imaging system, visible optical readout system, wave optics},
	isbn = {1057-7157},
	author = {Zhao, Yang and Mao, Minyao and Horowitz, R. and Majumdar, A. and Varesi, J. and Norton, P. and Kitching, J.}
}

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