A 32*32 parylene-pyrolyzed carbon bolometer imager

Here we present a novel and simple way to fabricate uncooled infrared detectors suitable for integration into large-area arrays. The design is based on thin-film carbon obtained by means of parylene pyrolysis. We demonstrate the first micromachined carbon uncooled bolometer array made of two layers of self-supporting pyrolyzed-parylene carbon having different process-tuned properties. Measurements show that the target temperature resolution, or NETD (Noise-Equivalent Temperature Difference) to target temperature can be as low as 35mK for 100μs electrical signal integration time, respectively. This matches the current state of the art which is very promising considering the fact that this is the first time pyrolytic carbon has been used to fabricate a microbolometer array