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20 May 2011Performance improvement in amorphous silicon based uncooled
microbolometers through pixel design and materials development
Uncooled amorphous silicon microbolometers have been established as a field-worthy technology for a broad range of
applications where performance and form factor are paramount, such as soldier-borne systems. Recent developments in
both bolometer materials and pixel design at L-3 in the 17μm pixel node have further advanced the state-of-the-art.
Increasing the a-Si material temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) has the impact of improving NETD sensitivity
without increasing thermal time constant (TTC), leading to an improvement in the NETD×TTC product. By tuning the
amorphous silicon thin-film microstructure using hydrogen dilution during deposition, films with high TCR have been
developed. The electrical properties of these films have been shown to be stable even after thermal cycling to
temperatures greater than 300oC enabling wafer-level vacuum packaging currently performed at L-3 to reduce the size
and weight of the vacuum packaged unit. Through appropriate selection of conditions during deposition, amorphous
silicon of ~3.4% TCR has been integrated into the L-3 microbolometer manufacturing flow. By combining pixel design
enhancements with improvements to amorphous silicon thin-film technology, L-3's amorphous silicon microbolometer
technology will continue to provide the performance required to meet the needs to tomorrow's war-fighter.
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Sameer Ajmera, John Brady, Charles Hanson, Tom Schimert, A. J. Syllaios, Michael Taylor, "Performance improvement in amorphous silicon based uncooled microbolometers through pixel design and materials development," Proc. SPIE 8012, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVII, 80121L (20 May 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.884249