TY - GEN
T1 - Adaptive thermal detectors using electrostatically controlled thermal conductance
AU - Song, W. B.
AU - Talghader, Joseph J
PY - 2002/1/1
Y1 - 2002/1/1
N2 - When thermal infrared detectors are exposed to large signals, they are susceptible to a host of unwanted effects including intensity dependent noise and detectivity, nonlinearities in materials characteristics, and even temporary blindness or device damage. To combat these problems and to extend dynamic range, the responsivity and time constant of microbolometers have been controlled using electrostatic actuation. The responsivity has been demonstrated to switch over a factor of 60, with theoretical limits encompassing 4 to 5 orders of magnitude. High responsivity states correspond to free-standing bolometers, while discrete lower responsivity states are created by partially or completely actuating the device supports into contact with the substrate. Continuous tuning over a part of the range is demonstrated by utilizing electrostatic pressure to increase the thermal contact between discrete switching states.
AB - When thermal infrared detectors are exposed to large signals, they are susceptible to a host of unwanted effects including intensity dependent noise and detectivity, nonlinearities in materials characteristics, and even temporary blindness or device damage. To combat these problems and to extend dynamic range, the responsivity and time constant of microbolometers have been controlled using electrostatic actuation. The responsivity has been demonstrated to switch over a factor of 60, with theoretical limits encompassing 4 to 5 orders of magnitude. High responsivity states correspond to free-standing bolometers, while discrete lower responsivity states are created by partially or completely actuating the device supports into contact with the substrate. Continuous tuning over a part of the range is demonstrated by utilizing electrostatic pressure to increase the thermal contact between discrete switching states.
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U2 - 10.1109/OMEMS.2002.1031429
DO - 10.1109/OMEMS.2002.1031429
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84963775818
T3 - 2002 IEEE/LEOS International Conference on Optical MEMs, OMEMS 2002 - Conference Digest
SP - 31
EP - 32
BT - 2002 IEEE/LEOS International Conference on Optical MEMs, OMEMS 2002 - Conference Digest
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - IEEE/LEOS International Conference on Optical MEMs, OMEMS 2002
Y2 - 20 August 2002 through 23 August 2002
ER -