Quantitative and imaging performance of uncooled microbolometer sensors for medical applications

Lockheed Martin IR Imaging Systems is developing low cost, high performance, uncooled infrared imaging products for both military and commercial applications. These products are based on the microbolometer technology, a silicon micromachined sensor that combines wafer level silicon processing with a device structure capable of yielding excellent imaging performance. Here, the authors report on the latest technical improvements and performance of an uncooled sensor as measured through laboratory and field testing. The performance of the authors´ uncooled sensor has been measured to determine sensor capabilities for insertion into both military and commercial products. Linearity of the sensor over a scene temperature range of 95°C is less than 0.5%. The authors´ sensors typically have temporal NETDs of less than 70 mK as well as spatial NETDs of less than 50 mK. MRTD performance is less than 0.4°C at spatial frequencies more than 20% beyond Nyquist. Sensor stability over time has been measured and found to meet both commercial and military requirements. Spatial noise over a wide scene temperature range is reported as well as other test results. Video is used to demonstrate sensor performance capabilities in a variety of applications