Effective readout pixel sensor circuit design for infrared focal plane array and three-dimension image MEMS VLSI system

摘要

New three-dimension (3D) readout pixel sensor circuit is proposed in this paper. The readout IC (ROIC) circuit is used in recent uncooled Bolometer infrared (BMIR) image micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS), which can alter Bolometer capacitance instead of traditional resistance value change. Direct infrared light (IR) can focus on Bolometer focal plane array and cause small capacitance variance, which can be detected and read out to reflect infrared image signal. Effective capacitive trans-impedance amplifier (CTIA) architecture is used to get infrared image data and reduce system noise. Cascode amplifier (C-AMP) architecture is also used in Bolometer-CTIA circuit instead of common operational amplifier (OPA) circuit for small pixel size and array area reduction. Additional 3D system architecture is also proposed to reduce ROIC circuit size and increase MEMS system processing efficiency. Experimental results prove effective operation function for small capacitance detection and infrared image signal capture. Low noise feature and small chip size are critical improvements in new 3D infrared image MEMS system.