Innovative 3D Microbolometer Arrays for Hyperspectral Infrared Imaging

Although uncooled infrared (IR) imaging technology has made remarkable progress in the last two decades, a major limitation of 2-D IR focal plane arrays is the lack of real-time spectral discrimination. Multi-spectral detection capabilities are highly desirable for advanced IR imaging systems and can be especially beneficial for early threat warning applications in missile defense since they enable rapid, efficient and multi-dimensional scene interpretation. Systems that gather data in multiple IR spectral bands in real time can discriminate both absolute temperature and unique spectral signatures of objects in the scene. Furthermore, they can effectively reject spurious information, such as background clutter and sun glint from an IR image, leaving only the objects of interest for rapid threat identification. Foster-Miller proposes to design and develop an innovative 3-D micromachined array of bolometric detectors using standard semiconductor micro-fabrication technology capable of hyperspectral imaging in the mid-IR region. The 3-D microbolometer structure will measure simultaneously the entire hyperspectral data cube, i.e., the intensity of the infrared energy in narrow spectral bands for each picture element in the scene. The proposed effort targets its application to missile seeker IR optics where benefits in space, weight and complexity will have a significant impact. (P-030678)