Real-Time Infrared Scene Simulator in CMOS/SOI MEMS

摘要

A 64 x 128 real-time infrared (RTIR) complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)/silicon-on-insulator (SOI) scene generation integrated circuit (IC) is described. The RTIR IC offers real-time dynamic thermal scene generation. This system is a mixed-mode design, with analog scene information written and stored into a thermal pixel array. The design uses micro- electromechanical sensors (MEMS) in conjunction with SSC San Diego's 0.8- micrometer CMOS/SOI process to develop a RTIR IC scene generator. The objective of this RTIR project is to develop a reliable prototype infrared (IR) test set for use in calibration and testing of IR systems, including built-in-test to ensure the real-time reliability of IR sensing systems. The potential of RTIR as built-in-test equipment (BITE) is to improve the reliability of IR sensors, thus lowering the overall system cost of operation. Infrared scene simulators that use bulk CMOS/MEMS have been reported previously; however, this work uses SOI as the starting material. The MEMS area is scaled down to create higher density pixel arrays, with low leakage at higher temperatures.