Silicon IC Process Compatible Bolometer Infrared Focal Plane Array

Abstract

A 128 x 128 element bolometer infrared image sensor using thin film titanium is proposed. The device is a monolithically integrated structure having a titanium bolometer detector and a CMOS circuit underneath it for reading out the bolometer's signals. By employing a metallic material like titanium and refining the CMOS readout circuit, l/f noise can be minimized. It was demonstrated that by using small l/f noise material, a bias current is increased and S/N ratio can be subsequently improved. Since the fabrication process is silicon-process compatible, low-cost inkared image senson can be realized by using this technology.