Evaluation of 1/f Noise Characteristics for Si‐Based Infrared Detection Materials

Silicon antimony films are studied as resistors for uncooled microbolometers. We present the fabrication of silicon films and their alloy films using sputtering and plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The sputtered silicon antimony films show a low 1/f noise level compared to plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)‐deposited amorphous silicon due to their very fine nanostructure. Material parameter K is controlled using the sputtering conditions to obtain a low 1/f noise. The calculation for specific detectivity assuming similar properties of silicon antimony and PECVD amorphous silicon shows that silicon antimony film demonstrates an outstanding value compared with PECVD Si film.