A Robust Infrared Transducer of an Ultra-Large-Scale Array

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Traditional infrared thin film transducers lack mechanical stability and have slower response times.
• Advancements in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) offer potential for improved transducer performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and fabricate a robust MEMS infrared thin film transducer for ultra-large-scale arrays.
• To enhance mechanical stability, time response, and pixel scale compared to traditional transducers.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a MEMS infrared thin film transducer on a silicon substrate with micro cavities.
• Mechanical load testing, transient temperature and radiation intensity simulations and measurements.
• Spatial resolution testing using a knife-edge image and analysis of thermal decay time.

Main Results:

• The novel transducer demonstrated a 5.24x improvement in load pressure and a 50.7% decrease in time constant.
• Achieved an array scale exceeding 2k x 2k pixels with consistent simulation and measured results.
• Exhibited a thermal decay time of 6.0 ms and a 24% smaller full width at half maximum (FWHM) for spatial resolution.

Conclusions:

• The robust MEMS infrared transducer offers superior mechanical stability and time response.
• The developed transducer is capable of generating high-resolution infrared images.
• This technology shows significant promise for advanced infrared imaging applications.