Design and analysis of a high fill-factor SOI diode uncooled infrared focal plane array

A new concept for uncooled infrared (IR) imaging with a high fill-factor SOI diode structure has been proposed. This approach has the potential of reaching a noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) in the milli-Kelvin range. This detector makes the IR absorbing structure cover almost the entire pixel area, in which the fill factor can reach 80%. Using the multilever structure, thermal isolation can be independently optimized without sacrificing the IR absorption area. The analysis shows that this high fill-factor SOI diode uncooled IR focal plane array can be made without failure of structure breakdown or buckling. The design shows that the sensitivity is of 7.75 x 10(-3) V K-1, and the NETD is of 42 mK (f/1.0, 30Hz) which can be achieved in a 35 mu m x 35 mu m micromachined structure.