A New CMOS Read-out IC for Uncooled Microbolometer Infrared Image Sensor

An uncooled microbolometer image sensor, used in an IR image sensor, is made by a micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) process, so the value of the microbolometer resistor has a process variation. Also, the reference resistor, which is used to connect to the microbolometer, is fabricated by a standard CMOS process, and the difference between the values of the microbolometer resistor and the reference resistor generates an unwanted output signal for the same input from the sensor array. In order to minimize this problem, a new CMOS read-out integrated circuit (ROIC) was designed. Instead of a single input mode, a differential input mode scheme and a simple method to compensate the resistor value are proposed. Using results from a computer simulation, it is observed that the output characteristic of the ROIC was improved and the effect of the process variation was decreased without using complex compensation circuits. Based on the simulation results, a prototype device including an ROIC that was fabricated by a standard 0.25um CMOS process and a microbolometer with a 16 x 16 sensor array was fabricated and characterized.