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Modeling of Electro-Thermal Microbolometer For Thermal Imaging

Microbolometer

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Vlad Marcu
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25 views

Modeling of Electro-Thermal Microbolometer For Thermal Imaging

Microbolometer

Uploaded by

Vlad Marcu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modeling of Electro-Thermal Microbolometer for Thermal

Imaging
A. Nowicki1, A. Bennecer 2

1Mechanical Engineering, University of Northampton & Gdańsk University of Technology,


Gdańsk, Poland
2Engineering, University of Northampton, Northampton, United Kingdom

Abstract

A Microbolometer is a specific type of uncooled infrared radiation detector used in


thermal cameras, which converts the incoming energy into a proportionate electrical
signal, which is then amplified, processed and displayed, typically on the thermal camera's
LCD viewer. The main principle of operation of a microbolometer is a thermally sensitive
layer which is exposed to incident electromagnetic radiation. Energy is absorbed and the
temperature of the material rises, and there is a concomitant change in resistance. The
resistance change information is then electrically transferred to the read-out integrated
circuit (ROIC) for further processing. Such a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) is
extremely appealing for reducing the size, cost and power consumption of infrared
sensors used in a range of applications without sacrificing performance and functionality.

In this research, an electro-thermal model of MEMS microbolometer has been produced


by taking into account the incoming infrared energy and Joule's heating sources. The
influence of different arms dimensions and shapes on device performance is investigated.
Within this two different microbolometer pixels' geometries have been designed, using the
COMSOL Multiphysics® software, and examined. Due to the low signal voltage from
microbolometer devices, the most important parameter to consider during design and
optimization is responsivity, which is strongly related to the total capacitance and thermal
conductance. Therefore, in the presented model the deciding factors for higher
performance have been computed and then have been checked using an analytical
method. The temperature distribution at any given time provides valuable information
about the microbolometer's performance and behaviour. The temperature distribution
across the length of the Long-leg and Short-leg microbolometer structures was simulated.
The Long-leg geometry is characterised by lower conductance and higher capacitance,
compared to the Short-leg structure.

The calculation results show that the pixel's responsivity is strongly affected by
dimensions of the geometry. For Long-leg microbolometer the obtained responsivity was
twice as high as for the Short-leg microbolometer structure. This means that by increasing
the microbolometer legs length by 30 μm (53%) each, we have gained 100% of responsivity
enhancement, even though there was just a slight difference in total capacitance of 0.04
[J/K] between Long-leg and Short-leg geometries.
Therefore, the supporting legs should be as long as possible and the width and thickness
should be as small as possible. Making very long legs with minimum width and thickness
have some experimental difficulties, but it has been proven that by a good design, it's
possible to strongly improve the microbolometer performance.

Figures used in the abstract

Figure 1 : Microbolometer pixels’ geometries.

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