Application of responsivity and noise evaluation method to infrared thermal imaging sensors

In this study, the evaluation method for the responsivity and noise characteristics of a commercial infrared thermal imaging camera and a custom-made sensor module was presented. Signal transfer functions (SiTFs) and noise equivalent temperature differences (NETDs) of the two sensor modules were obtained by using a differential mode blackbody that is able to control the temperature difference Delta T between an infrared target and its background. And we verified the suitability of our evaluation method through the comparison between the found NETD and the specification of the camera. In addition, the difference of 0.01 K of the two noise equivalent temperature differences calculated from with and without nonuniformity correction suggests that the nonuniformity correction is essential process for the evaluation of the infrared thermal imaging cameras. Finally, in case of the custom-made sensor module, only temporal NETD was found because of its higher nonuniformity characteristics.