James F. Belcher

Uncooled monolithic ferroelectric IRFPA technology

Once relegated to expensive military platforms, occasionally to civilian platforms, and envisioned for individual soldiers, uncooled thermal imaging affords cost-effective solutions for police cars, commercial surveillance, driving aids, and a variety of other industrial and consumer applications. System prices are continuing to drop, and swelling production volume will soon drive prices substantially lower. The impetus for further development is to improve performance. Hybrid barium strontium titanate (BST) detectors currently in production are relatively inexpensive, but have limited potential for improved performance. The MTF at high frequencies is limited by thermal conduction through the optical coating. Microbolometer arrays in development at Raytheon have recently demonstrated performance superior to hybrid detectors. However, microbolometer technology lacks a mature, low-cost system technology and an abundance of upgradable, deployable system implementations. Thin-film ferroelectric (TFFE) detectors have all the performance potential of microbolometers. They are also compatible with numerous fielded and planned system implementations. Like the resistive microbolometer, the TFFE detector is monolithic; i.e., the detector material is deposited directly on the readout IC rather than being bump bonded to it. Imaging arrays of 240 X 320 pixels have been produced, demonstrating the feasibility of the technology.

Advances in monolithic ferroelectric uncooled IRFPA technology

The success of uncooled IR imaging at Raytheon has awakened a new view of the potential of thermal imaging. Once relegated to only expensive military platforms, occasionally to civilian platforms, and envisioned for individual soldiers, thermal imaging is now affordable for police cars, commercial surveillance, driving aids, and a variety of other industrial and consumer applications. System prices are as low as

THERMAL DETECTOR AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME

8000, and swelling production volume will soon drive prices substantially lower. The impetus for further development is performance. The hybrid barium strontium titanate (BST) detectors currently in production have limited potential for improved sensitivity, and their MTF is suppressed at high frequencies. Microbolometer arrays in development at Raytheon have demonstrated performance superior to hybrid detectors. However, microbolometer technology lacks a mature, low-cost system technology and an abundance of deployable system implementations. Thin-film ferroelectric (TFFE) detectors have all the performance potential of microbolometers, and arguably more. They are also compatible with numerous fielded and planned system implementations. Like a microbolometer, the TFFE detector is monolithic; i.e., the detector material is deposited directly on the readout IC rather than being bump bonded to it. Initial imaging arrays of 240 X 320 pixels have been produced, demonstrating the feasibility of the technology.