Uncooled infrared thermo-mechanical detector array: design, fabrication and testing

Abstract

Thermo-mechanical detector arrays in the 160 x 120 array format are designed, fabricated, and tested. Detectors are composed of SiNx and TiN as absorbing layer, Al to form bimaterial legs, and integrated diffraction grating interferometer underneath each detector. The detector array is a passive component and the optical readout is performed remotely with a laser and CCD camera. All noise sources are considered in making a detailed noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) estimation, which revealed <30mK NETD is achievable using >12-bit CCD camera for the readout.