Capteur infrarouge CMOS à thermopiles comportant des fonctions de self-test

International audienceThis paper describes a CMOS-compatible self-testable uncooled infrared (IR) imager that can be used in multiple applications such as overheating detection, thermal tracking, night vision, or even earth tracking for satellite positioning. The imager consists of an array of thermal pixels that sense an incoming infrared radiation. Each pixel is implemented as a front-side bulk micromachined membrane suspended over the bulk by four arms, each arm containing a thermopile made of PolySi/Al thermocouples. This sensor has pixel self-test functions that can be activated off-line in the field for validation and maintenance purposes, with an on-chip test signal generation that requires only slight modifications in the pixel design. In this prototype, each pixel occupies an area of 200x200 m2, with a membrane size of 90x90 m2 (fill factor of 0.2) giving a calculated responsivity of 138 V/W