SBIR-STTR Award

We will develop a new infrared (IR) radiation sensor technology, which will allow the development of arrays of a new class of multi-mode thermal microbolometer detector. This technology will allow radiation detection from the near-IR to long-wave IR, a capability that is absent in competing detectors. Amorphous silicon and vanadium dioxide has been the dominant materials used for infrared light detection since the 1980s, mainly because of their desirable temperature coefficient of resistance. The disadvantages of such detectors are insensitivity to the spectral content and poor absorption of the incident radiation. This project will use combination of a nanomaterial and amorphous silicon as a new type of infrared sensing layer which can be integrated into silicon thermal detectors and is expected to overcome the limitations above. The outstanding advantages of the proposed detection technology are wavelength tunability, narrow spectral bandwidth and high sensitivity of the new detection layer technology. The proposed sensing layer is integrable to large arrays of microbolometers using conventional fabrication methods and is expected to lead to the manufacturing of multi-color IR detectors with a significantly reduced cost.

Benefit:
Uncooled IR detection and imaging technologies are leading to a booming market in low-cost small size thermal imaging devices with military and civil applications such as night vision, reconnaissance, mine detection, fire fighting, health, pollution monitoring, security, law enforcement, high-power electricity line monitoring, motor vehicle and space exploration. Currently, microbolometer detectors are mainly available in the long-wave IR (LWIR) and only capable of single-color IR sensing. The other available technologies are even more expensive with a very limited capability to penetrate to the potential markets. The proposed technology will allow production of a new generation of microbolometer detectors that are tunable from Near-IR to LWIR and can detect different IR wavelengths simultaneously. The impact of realization of the proposed technology is comparable to the impact of going from black & white to color cameras. The strengths of this technology in the market will be its low cost and compatibility with CMOS technology, integrability to a whole host of electronic and mechanical devices and multi- spectral sensing.

Keywords:
Multi-Mode Microbolometer, Focal Plane Array, Nanofabrication, Conventional Photolithgraphy, Nanomaterials, Enhanced Sensitivity, Wavlength Sensitive, Multi Spectral Bandwidth