Jacques-Edmond Paultre

Influence of pixel geometry on the 1/f noise coefficient

This paper presents a systematic study of the 1/f noise coefficient as a function of pixel geometry for microbolometer structures. Structures with various VOx widths, electrode gaps, electrode widths and via hole sizes were fabricated and characterized. The experimental results show that the 1/f noise coefficient is adversely affected by current non uniformity, in agreement with model predictions. Design parameters that significantly impact current non uniformity are identified and approaches to minimize their importance are proposed.

Introducing a 384x288 pixel terahertz camera core

Terahertz is a field in expansion with the emergence of various security needs such as parcel inspection and through-camouflage vision. Terahertz wavebands are characterized by long wavelengths compared to the traditional infrared and visible spectra. However, it has recently been demonstrated that a 52 μm pixel pitch microscanned down to an efficient sampling pitch of 26 μm could provide useful information even using a 118.83 μm wavelength. With this in mind, INO has developed a terahertz camera core based on a 384x288 pixel 35 μm pixel pitch uncooled bolometric terahertz detector. The camera core provides full 16-bit output video rate.

Novel spot size converter for coupling standard single mode fibers to SOI waveguides

We have designed and numerically simulated a novel spot size converter for coupling standard single mode fibers with 10.4μm mode field diameter to 500nm × 220nm SOI waveguides. Simulations based on the eigenmode expansion method show a coupling loss of 0.4dB at 1550nm for the TE mode at perfect alignment. The alignment tolerance on the plane normal to the fiber axis is evaluated at ±2.2μm for ≤1dB excess loss, which is comparable to the alignment tolerance between two butt-coupled standard single mode fibers. The converter is based on a cross-like arrangement of SiOxNy waveguides immersed in a 12μm-thick SiO2 cladding region deposited on top of the SOI chip. The waveguides are designed to collectively support a single degenerate mode for TE and TM polarizations. This guided mode features a large overlap to the LP01 mode of standard telecom fibers. Along the spot size converter length (450μm), the mode is first gradually confined in a single SiOxNy waveguide by tapering its width. Then, the mode is adiabatically coupled to a SOI waveguide underneath the structure through a SOI inverted taper. The shapes of SiOxNy and SOI tapers are optimized to minimize coupling loss and structure length, and to ensure adiabatic mode evolution along the structure, thus improving the design robustness to fabrication process errors. A tolerance analysis based on conservative microfabrication capabilities suggests that coupling loss penalty from fabrication errors can be maintained below 0.3dB. The proposed spot size converter is fully compliant to industry standard microfabrication processes available at INO.

Small uncooled bolometers with a broad spectral response

This paper reports the infrared spectral responses of 17 and 35 μm uncooled bolometers fabricated at INO. They are measured by making use of an external readout circuit along with a monochromator. As expected, the spectral absorption strongly depends on the bolometer stack as well as the pixel layout. By proper selection of design parameters, the spectral response can be made flat from 3 to 14 μm without significant deterioration of the detector figure of merit.

Uncooled midwave infrared sensors for spaceborne assessment of fire characteristics

Spaceborne assessment of fire characteristics relies on radiance measurement of fire pixels and non-fire pixels mainly in the midwave infrared (MWIR). Because ambient temperature non-fire pixels have low thermal emission in this spectral range, it remains a challenge to retrieve fire characteristics with the desired accuracy. This paper reports on uncooled microbolometers specially designed with low noise equivalent power (NEP) to enable fire diagnosis at MWIR wavelengths. Each microbolometer forming a 512x3 format array includes a Wheatstone bridge of one active, one blind, and two thermally shunted pixels followed by its own signal chain. Design analyses suggest the conditions for achieving the best NEP performance are: (i) the active, blind, and one shunt pixel have equal electrical resistances while the other shunt pixel has a larger resistance; (ii) the temperature difference between the active pixel and heat sink corresponds to about one-third the heat sink temperature; and (iii) the active and blind pixels have low thermal mass and conductance. Hardwired devices having different structural layouts were prepared for the validation of physical parameters and performance so that the suitable designs could be identified. After this, focal planes of 512x3 microbolometers were fabricated on readout electronics to allow further performance evaluation and development of staggered 1017x3 format arrays for a planned mission. The active pixel designs on the fabricated arrays exhibit a MWIR absorptance as high as 0.83 through implementation of a Salisbury screen absorber, a thermal conductance of ~ 67 nW/K, and a response time shorter than 10 ms. Their responsivities are found to be in good agreement with predictions of the design analysis. The effectiveness of an Al shield platform erected above the blind pixel was investigated, showing that certain designs are capable of attenuating the incident power by up to 24 times. Under optimal operating conditions an NEP of ~ 64 pW was derived from measurements in the spectral range of 3.4-4.2 um, which was corroborated by the probing results obtained on the on-wafer focal plane arrays. When using these arrays with an F/1 telescope to retrieve scenes of 400 K from low Earth orbits, a noise equivalent temperature difference of ~ 320 mK can be achieved.

Wideband response of a terahertz-millimeter imager based on a 384x288 pixel uncooled bolometric detector

In the past, bolometer-based imagers have been used for earth observation. Uncooled-bolometer based imagers are especially well suited for this due to their low power consumption. NIRST (New Infra-Red Sensor Technology), an example of an imager based on uncooled bolometers, monitors high temperature events on the ground related to fires and volcanic events, and will measure their physical parameters and takes measurements of sea surface temperatures mainly off the coast of South America as well as other targeted opportunities. NIRST has one band in the mid-wave infrared centered at 3.8 um with a bandwidth of 0.8 um, and two bands in the thermal infrared, centered respectively at 10.85 and 11.85 um with a bandwidth of 0.9 um.

Spot size converter for improved coupling of standard single mode fibers to SOI waveguides

We present a spot size converter (SCC) for coupling standard single mode fibers with 10μm mode field diameter to 500nm × 220nm SOI waveguides. Thanks to the large mode supported at the SSC input, the device offers an alignment tolerance of ±2.2μm for 1dB excess loss, which is comparable to the alignment tolerance between two butt-coupled standard single mode fibers. An optimized design of the SSC tapers provides a low total coupling loss of 0.4dB at 1550nm for the TE mode at perfect alignment. The proposed spot size converter is fully compliant to industry standard microfabrication processes, and provides good robustness to typical fabrication tolerances.

On the figure of merit of uncooled bolometers fabricated at INO

This paper reports the NETD values of various uncooled bolometers fabricated at INO. They are measured using an external readout circuit that emulates the readout scheme of a commercial ROIC. The measured NETD values range between 6 and 75 mK, depending on the pixel pitch and response time. Pixel pitches of 12, 17 and 35 μm are considered. The figure of merit of the characterized detectors is below 350 mK*ms.