An effective thermal conductance tuning mechanism for uncooled microbolometers

With the increasing demand on infrared (IR) detectors for imaging harsh environment processes, widening the application range of uncooled microbolometer arrays has become an important research area. An efficient way of increasing this range is tuning the thermal conductance of the microbolometer array using electrostatic actuation, which is usually achieved by directly applying an actuation voltage to the substrate. However, this method does not allow pixel-by-pixel actuation, limiting the tunability. In this paper, we present a new method of actuation which uses the micromirror located below the microbolometer as the actuation terminal. We demonstrate that using micromirror actuation, the thermal conductance can be tuned by a factor of three. An analytical model to calculate the thermal conductance of this new type of microbolometer is presented. Results of the model are compared to finite element simulations and experimental measurements on a test structure fabricated for this purpose, showing good agreement. The new tuning mechanism provides a fairly linear thermal conductance tunability, thus making it a promising thermal conductance controlling mechanism for adaptive IR detectors.     

Thermal-impedance simulations of antenna-coupled microbolometers

Antenna-coupled microbolometers have shown characteristics that makes them a promising option for fast-frame-rate infrared-imaging applications, however commercial application of these type of devices is only possible if a substantial increase in their responsivity is achieved. Due to the fabrication requirements of these type of detectors the process of optimizing them becomes extremely expensive and time consuming. In this paper a finite-element-based simulation approach to optimize the design of thermally isolated microbolometers is presented and the particular case of a bowtie-coupled microbolometer on a silicon nitride membrane is analyzed. The thermal-impedance simulations performed indicate that a responsivity increase of at least a factor of 6× can be obtained by optimizing the membrane shape and the materials used for the bias lines, this would lead to values of D^* close to if applied to devices reported in the literature, which would close the gap between the responsivity of antenna-coupled detectors and detectors used in commercial infrared-imaging systems.     

Multispectral microbolometers for the midinfrared

The spectral responsivity and the dynamic behavior of microbolometers with an integrated absorbing metamaterial are investigated. Wavelength tailoring and tuning in different microbolometers are achieved by varying the lateral extension of the absorber elements. Maximum sensitivity is tuned between 2.9 and 7.7 μm, with peak absorptions reaching up to 88%. The presence of a continuous metallic shielding layer affects heat conduction and leads to faster thermal response times.     

Structural characterization of SiGe nanoclusters formed by rapid thermal annealing

This work presents the structural characterization of nanoclusters formed from a-Si:H/Ge heterostructures processed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 1000 °C for annealing times varying between 30 s and 70 s. The a-Si:H layers were grown on electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) using SiH₄ and Ar precursor gases. The Ge layer was grown in an e-beam evaporation system. The structural characterizations were performed by high-resolution X-ray diffractometer (HRXRD) on grazing incidence X-ray reflection mode (GIXRR) and micro-Raman measurements. The average grain size, Ge concentration (x_Ge) and strain were estimated from Lorentzian GIXRR peak fit. The average grain size varied from 3 nm to 7.5 nm and decreased with annealing time. The x_Ge increase with annealing time and varied from 8% to 19%, approximately. The strain calculated for (1 1 1), (2 2 0) and (3 1 1) peaks at 40 s, 50 s, 60 s and 70 s annealing time suggest the geometrical changes in nanoclusters according to process time.     

Threshold characteristics of polycrystalline germanium silicide microbolometers

The threshold characteristics of polycrystalline germanium silicide microbolometers are calculated. It is shown that the dependence of detectivity on specific resistance of the microbolometer exhibits a maximum. The optimal voltage and specific-resistance ranges are determined for improving the threshold characteristics. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 51–55, December, 2007.     

Integration of microbolometers with infrared microstrip antennas

We report on various integration schemes of infrared microbolometers with microstrip antennas. The first integration design consists of two gold (Au) rectangular microstrip patches coupled along the radiating edges by a narrow niobium (Nb) strip. Devices using silicon oxide are compared to devices using amorphous silicon as antenna substrate. An extension of the twin-patch detector design is the microstrip dipole antenna-coupled microbolometer. Two ways of connecting the device to the contact pads via narrow dc leads are presented and compared. The contribution of the dc leads to the detector response is eliminated by directly connecting the dipole to the contact pads. The thermal isolation of the microbolometer from the silicon wafer is improved by incorporating air into the antenna dielectric substrate. This leads to higher detector responsivity and shifts the resonance towards longer antennas. The implementation of a bridge microstrip dipole antenna structure is also discussed.     

Effect of lateral structure parameters of SiGe HBTs on synthesized active inductors

The effect of lateral structure parameters of transistors including emitter width, emitter length, and emitter stripe number on the performance parameters of the active inductor(AI), such as the effective inductance Ls, quality factor Q,and self-resonant frequency ω_0 is analyzed based on 0.35-μm Si Ge Bi CMOS process. The simulation results show that for AI operated under fixed current density JC, the HBT lateral structure parameters have significant effect on Ls but little influence on Q and ω_0, and the larger Ls can be realized by the narrow, short emitter stripe and few emitter stripes of Si Ge HBTs. On the other hand, for AI with fixed HBT size, smaller JCis beneficial for AI to obtain larger Ls, but with a cost of smaller Q and ω_0. In addition, under the fixed collector current IC, the larger the size of HBT is, the larger Ls becomes, but the smaller Q and ω_0 become. The obtained results provide a reference for selecting geometry of transistors and operational condition in the design of active inductors.     

Physico-chemical and electrical properties of rapid thermal oxides on Ge-rich SiGe heterolayers

Rapid thermal oxidation of high-Ge content (Ge-rich) Si_1−xGe_x (x = 0.85) layers in dry O₂ ambient has been investigated. High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and strain-sensitive two-dimensional reciprocal space mapping X-ray diffractometry (2D-RSM) are employed to investigate strain relaxation and composition of as-grown SiGe alloy layers. Characterizations of ultra thin oxides (∼6-8 nm) have been performed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HRXPS). Formation of mixed oxide i.e., (SiO₂ + GeO₂) and pile-up of Ge at the oxide/Si_1−xGe_x interface have been observed. Enhancement in Ge segregation and reduction of oxide thickness with increasing oxidation temperature are reported. Interface properties and leakage current behavior of the rapid thermal oxides have been studied by capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (J-V) techniques using metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) structures and the results are reported.     

基区Ge组分分布对SiGe HBTs热学特性的影响

基区Ge组分的加入可以改善SiGe HBT的直流特性、 频率特性和噪声特性, 但Ge组分及其分布对HBT热学特性的影响报道还很少. 本文利用SILVACO半导体器件仿真工具, 建立了多指SiGe HBT模型, 对基区具有不同Ge组分梯度结构的SiGe HBTs的热学特性和电学特性的热稳定性进行了研究. 研究发现, 在Ge组分总量一定的条件下, 随着Ge组分梯度的增大, 器件的特征频率明显提高, 增益β和特征频率f_T随温度变化变弱, 器件温度分布的均匀性变好, 但增益变小; 而基区均匀Ge组分(Ge组分梯度为零) 的HBT的增益较大, 但随温度的变化较大, 器件温度分布的均匀性也较差. 在此基础上, 将基区Ge组分均匀分布和Ge组分缓变分布相结合, 提出了兼顾器件热学特性、 增益特性和频率特性的新型基区Ge组分分布- 分段分布结构. 结果表明, 相比于基区Ge组分均匀分布的器件, 新器件温度明显降低; β和f_T保持了较高的值, 且随温度的变化也较小, 显示了新结构器件的优越性. 这些结果对HBT的热学设计具有重要的参考意义, 是对SiGe HBT性能研究的一个补充.     

Calculation of parameters of diffraction polarizers

The results of calculations of two types of reflective polarizers made up of thin-film diffraction grating formed by birefringent plane-parallel elements are presented. One of the two orthogonal linear polarizations can be separated almost without any losses because of a strong zero-order reflection. A polarizer of the first type represents a grating formed by asperities of a dielectric coating with a columnar structure produced upon oblique deposition of the dielectric. The second polarizer represents a thin mica plate grating. In this case, comparison with previous experiments can be performed.     

Extraction of temperature dependences of small-signal model parameters in SiGe HBT HICUM model

In this work, temperature dependences of small-signal model parameters in the SiGe HBT HICUM model are presented. Electrical elements in the small-signal equivalent circuit are first extracted at each temperature, then the temperature dependences are determined by the series of extracted temperature coefficients, based on the established temperature formulas for corresponding model parameters. The proposed method is validated by a 1 × 0.2 × 16 μm~2 SiGe HBT over a wide temperature range(from 218 K to 473 K), and good matching is obtained between the extracted and modeled results. Therefore, we believe that the proposed extraction flow of model parameter temperature dependence is reliable for characterizing the transistor performance and guiding the circuit design over a wide temperature range.     

Responsivity of infrared antenna-coupled microbolometers for air-side and substrate-side illumination

The response of an antenna-coupled microbolometer fabricated on a Si wafer coated on both sides with thin films of SiO₂ was measured for two types of illumination: through the substrate and from the air side. The measurement was performed in the spectral range from 9.22 to 10.84 μm. Both cases are modeled by using the transmission, reflection, and absorption properties of the three-layer wafer. The spectral characteristics of the SiO₂ thin film play a major role in the response of the detector. The responses of the sensor to the parallel and perpendicular polarizations are modeled by using two main contributions: the heating by absorption in the SiO₂ layer and the coupling of incident flux on the bolometer. Fitting this model to the experimental data allows us to conclude that the antenna response is the result of the incident flux coming from the substrate side. When the device is illuminated from the air side, the antenna signal results from the flux reflected at the film/substrate interface. The efficiencies of the contributions to the antenna signal coming from the substrate or from the air side have been obtained from the data fitted with the model. The substrate-side contribution is 50 times larger than the air-side contribution, confirming the theory of lithographic antenna on a dielectric substrate.     

能带工程对射频功率SiGe异质结双极晶体管热性能的改善

众所周知,基区"能带工程"可以改善Si_1-xGe _{x 基区异质结双极晶体管(HBT)的直流、频率和噪声等特性,但"能带工程"对HBT热学特性的影响的研究还很少。本文基于三维热电反馈模型,分析了"能带工程"对射频功率SiGe HBT热性能的影响。考虑到电流增益随温度的变化以及发射结电压负温度系数,给出了器件热稳定所需最小镇流电阻(REmin)的表达式,在此基础上给出了非均匀镇流电阻的设计,进一步提高了SiGe HBT的热稳定性 关键词： SiGe HBT Ge组分 热电反馈 镇流电阻}     

Diffusion parameters of thermal neutrons in diphenyl

The diffusion length, diffusion coefficient and mean life time of thermal neutrons in rigid, Czechoslovak made, diphenyl were measured by the impulse method at the temperature 20°C. The experimental results are discussed.

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We thank J. Jadavan and the accelerator group for their co-operation.     

Calculation of effective parameters of thermoelectromagnetoelastic layered media

A system of layered multiferroic materials is averaged with allowance for thermal properties of layers. Matrix averaging is used to obtain effective parameters of the system. Formulas that make it possible to characterize the effect of magnetoelectroelastic coefficients of layers on thermal parameters are derived. The presence of pyrocoefficients in the system is possible even in the absence of the coefficients for the layers. The heat capacity of the system ceases to be an additive quantity and becomes dependent on permittivity and permeability of the layers owing to the interaction of the fields.     

空间相机接触热阻的计算

为了解决空间相机接触热阻难以确定的问题,从接触面传导和辐射换热的角度考虑,给出了其接触热阻的计算方法。根据空间相机的材料、加工、装配及其特殊运行环境,得到一个合理的接触系数范围。以空间相机的正视相机为例,对其结构进行合理的简化,利用I-DEAS/TMG热分析模块建立有限元模型,仿真计算了低温稳态平衡工况,考查了热阻波动对温度分布的影响。正视相机热分析计算结果和热环境模拟试验数据较为吻合,最大偏差为0.45℃。研究结果表明,该接触热阻计算方法合理,可以预测太空环境中干接触的精密加工表面间的接触热阻。