SPICE modeling of resistive, diode, and pyroelectric bolometer cells

摘要

Thermal IR imagers (bolometer arrays with resistive, ferroelectric or diode detector elements) require sophisticated circuitry to extract the signal out of the noisy background. Suitable models for circuit optimization with simulation tools like SPICE or SPECTRE are therefore inevitable. SPICE has the capability to model electrical and thermal circuits in the same model description. The models described here have a common thermal section, but differ in their electrical description. The thermal SPICE model uses a capacitor to model the thermal capacity of the sensing element, resistors for heat conductance due to radiation and along the supporting legs. The incoming radiation injects a current, as does the power dissipated in the sensor layer, resulting in a temperature rise of the sensor. Electrically the bolometer resistor is modeled via a non-linear dependent current source, changing with temperature, and emitting heat during readout. Noise is injected via dependant noise current sources, including white resistive and 1/f excess noise of the detector resistor and band limited thermal conductance noise of the detector. In the diode bolometer a non-linear temperature controlled diode model replaces the resistor. Shot and flicker noise sources are added. The pyroelectric detector is described by a non linear temperature dependant capacitor and a parallel resistor caused by dielectric losses. A chopper modulating the incoming radiation is required for signal detection.