Wavelength-selective uncooled infrared (IR) sensors have significant advantages for applications such as fire detection, gas analysis, hazardous material recognition, and biological analysis. We have demonstrated a wavelength-selective uncooled IR sensor with a plasmonic metamaterial absorber (PMA). However, unwanted modes are a serious issue for wavelength-selective detection and are attributed to the absorption by the materials used in the sensors that do not consist of PMAs. Elimination of unwanted modes in a wavelength-selective uncooled IR sensor with a PMA is demonstrated using a subtraction operation with a reference pixel. The reference pixel has the same sensor structure, except for the absorber area; a flat mirror was instead formed on the absorber surface. Wavelength-selective uncooled IR sensors were fabricated with PMAs and the reference pixels. Single-mode detection was achieved by the subtraction operation with the reference pixel.

Date Published: 9 May 2019
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 11002, Infrared Technology and Applications XLV, 110021K (9 May 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2518563

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11002:
Infrared Technology and Applications XLV
Bjørn F. Andresen; Gabor F. Fulop; Charles M. Hanson, Editor(s)