NIGHT SIGHT TARGET SENSOR FOR FIRE CONTROL

ADVANCED NIGHT SIGHT TARGET SENSORS USED IN TACTICAL WEAPONS FOR FIRE CONTROL REQUIRE DETECTOR ARRAYS THAT ARE LOW WEIGHT, LOW POWER AND CAN BE OPERATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE WITH REASONABLE SENSITIVITY. TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS, AN INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE IS PROPOSED FOR FABRICATING LARGE-AREA LONG WAVELENGTH INFRARED (LWIR) DETECTOR ARRAYS THAT CAN BE OPERATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. THIS TECHNIQUE UTILIZES ESTABLISHED TECHNOLOGIES OF MICRO-MACHINING AND MICROELECTRONIC PROCESSING OF SILICON (SI) WAFERS FOR FABRICATING MONOLITHIC ARRAYS OF LWIR DETECTORS. THE DETECTOR ELEMENTS OF THE ARRAY ARE FORMED BY AN ULTRA-THIN FILM OF A BOLOMETER MATERIAL PROCESSING THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT OF RESISTANCE KNOWN, AND THE READOUT ELECTRONIC MICROCIRCUIT IS FABRICATED ON THE SAME SILICON CHIP NEXT TO THE ELEMENTS. THE RESULTANT DETECTOR ARRAYS WILL POSSESS FEATURES OF LOW COST, LOW WEIGHT, HIGH RESPONSIVITY AND HIGH SENSITIVITY. THE LOW COST IS DUE TO A SINGLE BATCH PROCESS IN THE ARRAY FABRICATION. THE LOW WEIGHT IS DUE TO A MONOLITHIC ARRAY STRUCTURE REQUIRING NO COOLING. THE HIGH RESPONSIVITY IS DUE TO A LARGE TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT OF RESISTIVITY (>15% COMPARED TO 0.2% FOR A CONVENTIONAL BOLOMETER) OF OUR NEW BOLOMETER MATERIAL. THE HIGH SENSITIVITY IS DUE TO THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF HIGH RESPONSIVITY, LOW NOISE AND HIGH THERMAL ISOLATION OF THE BOLOMETER FROM ITS SURROUNDINGS.