Amorphous silicon (a-Si) microbolometer technology is a silicon fab-compatible uncooled detector technology which offers a low cost, high volume approach for infrared sensor and imager applications. Raytheon has used this detector technology to develop a 160x120 a-Si based infrared camera. The systems goal was to develop an affordable infrared imaging product that provides acceptable performance for many commercial and military applications. To meet low power goals, a non-temperature controlled detector approach was required. This led to the challenge of developing a technique for operating over ambient temperature that includes correction techniques that account for offset and responsivity non-uniformities over ambient operating temperature. This paper describes the operating performance parameters of a typical a-Si 160 X 120 IR camera. This camera is currently entering production, and will be produced by the Raytheon Commercial Infrared business.

Date Published: 27 September 2001
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 4393, Unattended Ground Sensor Technologies and Applications III, (27 September 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.441258

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4393:
Unattended Ground Sensor Technologies and Applications III
Edward M. Carapezza, Editor(s)