Thermal impedance model of electrostatic discharge effects on microbolometers

The small thermal mass of microbolometers, used in antenna-coupled infrared detectors, makes them especially vulnerable to electrical stress caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD). In this paper, an empirical thermal model, which is independent of the device geometry, is used to characterize the behavior of microbolometers under ESD conditions. The parameters of this thermal model are fitted to measurements made on the microbolometers,and a power-to-failure versus time-to-failure curve is obtained. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc