Microbolometer design methodology for electrical, optical, and thermal performance co-optimization

Abstract

This dissertation proposes a systematic design methodology for microbolometer that is very complex device. The proposed design methodology can optimize the noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) which is a figure of merit (FOM) of thermography by optimizing the electrical, optical and thermal performance of the microbolometer. In order to minimize the complexity of the optimization for the microbolometer, the proposed design methodology is divided into two optimizations: the opto-electrical horizontal optimization and the thermo-electric vertical optimization. The resistance and thermal conduction which are not defined through two optimizations are defined as two design factors of resistance design considering system dynamic range and thermal conductivity design for fixed thermal time constant due to system specification. This is the first systematic microbolometer design methodology that can greatly contribute to reducing the design complexity of the microbolometer.