Calculation of thermal parameters of SiGe microbolometers

The thermal parameters of a SiGe microbolometer were calculated using numerical modeling. The calculated thermal conduction and thermal response time are in good agreement with the values found experimentally and range between 2·10⁻⁷ and 7·10⁻⁸ W/K and 1.5 and 4.5 ms, respectively. High sensitivity of microbolometer is achieved due to optimization of the thermal response time and thermal conduction by fitting the geometry of supporting heat-removing legs or by selection of a suitable material providing boundary thermal resistance higher than 8·10⁻³ cm²·K/W at the SiGe interface. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 44–50, December, 2007.