A digital 25 µm pixel-pitch uncooled amorphous silicon TEC-less VGA IRFPA with massive parallel Sigma-Delta-ADC readout

Dirk Weiler; Marco Russ; Daniel Würfel; Renee Lerch; Pin Yang; Jochen Bauer; Holger Vogt

doi:10.1117/12.849839

3 May 2010 A digital 25 µm pixel-pitch uncooled amorphous silicon TEC-less VGA IRFPA with massive parallel Sigma-Delta-ADC readout

Dirk Weiler, Marco Russ, Daniel Würfel, Renee Lerch, Pin Yang, Jochen Bauer, Holger Vogt

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7660, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVI; 76600S (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.849839
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2010, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

This paper presents an advanced 640 x 480 (VGA) IRFPA based on uncooled microbolometers with a pixel-pitch of 25μm developed by Fraunhofer-IMS. The IRFPA is designed for thermal imaging applications in the LWIR (8 .. 14μm) range with a full-frame frequency of 30 Hz and a high sensitivity with NETD < 100 mK @ f/1. A novel readout architecture which utilizes massively parallel on-chip Sigma-Delta-ADCs located under the microbolometer array results in a high performance digital readout. Sigma-Delta-ADCs are inherently linear. A high resolution of 16 bit for a secondorder Sigma-Delta-modulator followed by a third-order digital sinc-filter can be obtained. In addition to several thousand Sigma-Delta-ADCs the readout circuit consists of a configurable sequencer for controlling the readout clocking signals and a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the IRFPA. Since packaging is a significant part of IRFPA's price Fraunhofer-IMS uses a chip-scaled package consisting of an IR-transparent window with antireflection coating and a soldering frame for maintaining the vacuum. The IRFPAs are completely fabricated at Fraunhofer-IMS on 8" CMOS wafers with an additional surface micromachining process. In this paper the architecture of the readout electronics, the packaging, and the electro-optical performance characterization are presented.

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Dirk Weiler, Marco Russ, Daniel Würfel, Renee Lerch, Pin Yang, Jochen Bauer, and Holger Vogt "A digital 25 µm pixel-pitch uncooled amorphous silicon TEC-less VGA IRFPA with massive parallel Sigma-Delta-ADC readout", Proc. SPIE 7660, Infrared Technology and Applications XXXVI, 76600S (3 May 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.849839

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