Uncooled infrared microbolometer arrays for Earth remote sensing

Herve Geoffray; Alain Bardoux; Michel Laporte; Jean-Luc Tissot

doi:10.1117/12.409894

Translator Disclaimer

15 December 2000 Uncooled infrared microbolometer arrays for Earth remote sensing

Herve Geoffray, Alain Bardoux, Michel Laporte, Jean-Luc Tissot

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4130, Infrared Technology and Applications XXVI; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.409894
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The recent development of high performance uncooled infrared microbolometer arrays with detection limit (Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference) as low as 50 mK (f/1-60 Hz) offers a new challenge for the design of space instruments for Earth remote sensing. In this paper, we present results obtained on a 256x64 amorphous Silicon microbolometers array and on a 320x240 Vanadium Oxide (VOx) microbolometers array, from electro-optical characterizations performed at Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales. The goal of these measurements is to derive the performances of these arrays in order to study the feasibility of Earth remote sensing instruments using uncooled infrared microbolometer arrays. We find that a detection limit of approximately 0.16 K could be achieved at low spatial resolution, where the VOx microbolometer array is more adapted, due to relatively large time constant (approximately 23 ms). At medium spatial resolution, a detection limit of approximately 0.5 K could be achieved, with the amorphous Silicon microbolometer array.

Citation Download Citation

Herve Geoffray, Alain Bardoux, Michel Laporte, and Jean-Luc Tissot "Uncooled infrared microbolometer arrays for Earth remote sensing", Proc. SPIE 4130, Infrared Technology and Applications XXVI, (15 December 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.409894

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE