Microphotonic thermal detectors and imagers

Michael R. Watts; Michael J. Shaw; Peter T. Rakich; Anthony L. Lentine; Gregory N. Nielson; Jeremy Wright; William A Zortman; Frederick B. McCormick

doi:10.1117/12.821117

19 February 2009 Microphotonic thermal detectors and imagers

Michael R. Watts, Michael J. Shaw, Peter T. Rakich, Anthony L. Lentine, Gregory N. Nielson, Jeremy Wright, William A Zortman, Frederick B. McCormick

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7194, Laser Resonators and Beam Control XI; 71940T (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.821117
Event: SPIE LASE: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2009, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

We present the theory of operation along with detailed device designs and initial experimental results of a new class of uncooled thermal detectors. The detectors, termed microphotonic thermal detectors, are based on the thermo-optic effect in high quality factor (Q) micrometer-scale optical resonators. Microphotonic thermal detectors do not suffer from Johnson noise, do not require metallic connections to the sensing element, do not suffer from charge trapping effects, and have responsivities orders of magnitude larger than microbolometer-based thermal detectors. For these reasons, microphotonic thermal detectors have the potential to reach thermal phonon noise limited performance.

Citation Download Citation

Michael R. Watts, Michael J. Shaw, Peter T. Rakich, Anthony L. Lentine, Gregory N. Nielson, Jeremy Wright, William A Zortman, and Frederick B. McCormick "Microphotonic thermal detectors and imagers", Proc. SPIE 7194, Laser Resonators and Beam Control XI, 71940T (19 February 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.821117

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