Microbolometer detectors and arrays fabricated using printed electronics and photonics techniques, including ink-based printing, are disclosed. A microbolometer detector can include a substrate, a platform suspended above the substrate, and a thermistor printed on the platform and made of a thermistor material including an electrically conducting polymer, for example a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) polymeric composition. The microbolometer detector can also include an electrode structure electrically connected to the thermistor, and an ohmic contact layer interposed between the thermistor and the electrode structure. The electrode structure can be made of an electrode material including silver, while the ohmic contact layer can be made of an ohmic contact material including a PEDOT-carbon nanotube polymeric composition. A microbolometer array can include a plurality of microbolometer detectors arranged in a linear or two-dimensional matrix.

This infrared imaging element includes: a substrate which has a front surface and a back surface and to which a circuit unit is provided; a support leg wiring line that is disposed above the front surface of the substrate; and an infrared-ray detection unit which is held on the support leg wiring line and to which a diode electrically connected to the circuit unit via the support leg wiring line is provided, wherein the temperature change of the infrared-ray detection unit is detected as an electrical signal change of the diode by the circuit unit. The substrate, the support leg wiring line, and the infrared-ray detection unit are laminated at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the front surface of the substrate.

A method and an infrared measuring system for determining a temperature distribution of a surface without contact includes an infrared detector array with a detector array substrate and respective pluralities of measuring pixels and reference pixels. The measuring pixels are each connected to the detector array substrate with a first thermal conductivity, are sensitive to infrared radiation, and each provide a measurement signal for determining a temperature measurement value that depends on the intensity of the incident infrared radiation. The reference pixels are each connected to the detector array substrate with a second thermal conductivity and each provide a measurement signal for determining a temperature measurement value. The reference pixels are implemented as blind pixels that are substantially insensitive to infrared radiation. The temperature measurement values of the measuring pixels are corrected by a pixel-associated temperature drift component determined with reference to the temperature measurement values of the reference pixels.

An imaging system includes a focal plane array, readout electronics, and a computing system in which the number of active pixels is either set at a low-fraction of the total pixels thereby reducing the effect of radiation damage, or radiation damage over time is detected and automatically compensated. Machine learning is used to identify radiation damaged pixels and damaged regions which are subsequently eliminated and replaced by the computational system. The machine learning is used to identify changes in the fixed pattern signal/noise and/or noise of the system, and is then computationally corrected.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bolometer thin film and an infrared sensor having a high TCR value, and a method for manufacturing the same. According to the present invention, a bolometer material which is a thin film comprising semiconducting carbon nanotubes and a negative thermal expansion material, and an infrared sensor comprising the bolometer material are provided.

The invention relates to a thermal detector (1) for detecting electromagnetic radiation, comprising: a readout substrate (10); a membrane (20) suspended above the readout substrate, comprising: a thermometric transducer (23), and a resistive load (25) that is formed from a track that extends longitudinally to form a closed continuous loop; a collecting antenna (16), which is located away from the suspended membrane (20) and coupled to the resistive load (25), and which comprises a coupling track (16.1), which track is located plumb with the resistive load (25) and extends longitudinally to form an open continuous loop, thus permitting inductive coupling between the coupling track (16.1) and the resistive load (25).

A method for processing a raw image characterized by first Pix.sub.1(i,j) and second Pix.sub.2(i,j) raw measurements collected by first Bol.sub.1(i,j) and second Bol.sub.2(i,j) bolometers of a set of bolometers Bol(i,j) of a detector, the first bolometers Bol.sub.1(i,j) being closed off, the method being executed by a computer on the basis of reference measurements Pix.sub.REF(i,j) that include first Pix.sub.1REF(i,j) and second Pix.sub.2REF(i,j) reference measurements associated with the first Bol.sub.1(i,j) and with the second Bol.sub.2(i,j) bolometers, the method including: a) a correlation step between the first raw measurements Pix.sub.1(i,j) and the first reference measurements Pix.sub.1REF(i,j); and b) a step of correcting the raw image, which includes computing corrected measurements Pix.sub.Cor(i,j) of a corrected image for each bolometer Bol(i,j) on the basis of the reference measurements Pix.sub.REF(i,j) and of the result of step a).

An infrared sensor includes an assembly of pixels juxtaposed in rows and in columns, each pixel integrating an imaging microbolometer and an integrator assembly. The integrator assembly includes a transistor assembled as an amplifier, and a capacitor assembled in feedback on the transistor between an output node and an integration node. The integration node is connected to a skimming transistor operating as a current mirror with a skimming control transistor offset outside of the pixel. A skimming current flowing through the skimming control transistor is controlled according to the temperature of at least one thermalized microbolometer. The current mirror assembly enables to transmit the skimming current flowing through said skimming control transistor onto the integration node so that the capacitor integrates the difference between a current flowing through the imaging microbolometer and the skimming current.

Techniques for facilitating wide field of view (FOV) imaging systems and methods are provided. In one example, an imaging device includes a lens system including a first lens group and a second lens group. The first lens group includes at least one spherical lens element and is associated with a first FOV. The first lens group is configured to transmit electromagnetic radiation associated with a scene. The second lens group includes wafer level optics aspherical lens elements and is associated with a second FOV narrower than the first FOV. The second lens group is configured to transmit the electromagnetic radiation received from the first lens group. The imaging device further includes a detector array including detectors. Each detector is configured to receive a portion of the electromagnetic radiation from the lens system and generate a thermal image based on the electromagnetic radiation. Related methods and systems are also provided.

Microbolometer systems and methods are provided herein. For example, an infrared imaging device includes a substrate having contacts and a surface. The surface defines a plane. The infrared imaging device further includes a microbolometer array coupled to the substrate. Each microbolometer of the microbolometer array includes a second having a first dimension that extends in a first direction substantially parallel to the plane and a second dimension that extends in a second direction away from the plane. The first dimension is less than the second dimension. The segment includes a metal layer and a layer formed on a side of the metal layer.