Abstract
Warm bodies like humans or animals emit radiation in the long-wave infrared band (8 to 14 μm) which can be used for pedestrian detection in an automotive application. Fraunhofer-IMS has developed an advanced 640 x 480 (VGA) IR detector (IRFPA=infrared focal plane array) based on uncooled micro bolometers with a pixel-pitch of 25μm. The IRFPA is designed for thermal imaging applications with a full-frame frequency of 30 Hz and a high sensitivity with a NETD < 100 mK @ f/1. The microbolometer as the sensing element is based on amorphous silicon as the sensing layer. A novel readout architecture which utilizes massively parallel on-chip Sigma-Delta-ADCs located under the microbolometer array re sults in a high performance digital readout. Since packaging is a significant part of a 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.
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Weiler, D. et al. (2011). A Far Infrared VGA Detector Based on Uncooled Microbolometers for Automotive Applications. In: Meyer, G., Valldorf, J. (eds) Advanced Microsystems for Automotive Applications 2011. VDI-Buch. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21381-6_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21381-6_31
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21380-9
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