TY - GEN
T1 - A 100mK-NETD 100ms-startup-time 80×60 micro-bolometer CMOS thermal imager integrated with a 0.234mm2 1.89μVrms noise 12b biasing DAC
AU - Kim, Ki Duk
AU - Park, Seunghyun
AU - Yoon, Kye Seok
AU - Kang, Gyeong Gu
AU - Han, Hyun Ki
AU - Choi, Ji Su
AU - Ko, Min Woo
AU - Cho, Jeong Hyun
AU - Lim, Sangjin
AU - Lee, Hyung Min
AU - Kim, Hyun Sik
AU - Lee, Kwyro
AU - Cho, Gyu Hyeong
PY - 2018/3/8
Y1 - 2018/3/8
N2 - A micro-bolometer focal plane array (MBFPA) detector is one of the best candidates for thermal imaging cameras due to its excellent uncooled imaging performance with low manufacturing cost [1-4]. In Fig. 10.8.1, remote infra-red signals from thermal objects are maximized and absorbed at the MEMS micro-bolometer pixels having a λ/4 cavity structure, and they are then converted into resistance of a thermistor layer in each cell. Then, a CMOS analog front-end (AFE) reads out the cell resistance value in current-mode by applying a voltage bias to the micro-bolometer pixel. In the readout process, the skimming cell that does not respond to the infra-red signal is used to remove the offset components by generating an opposite-phase current, which in turn alleviates the system required resolution. Nevertheless, there is still very significant fixed-pattern noise (FPN) resulting from process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations, and this severely limits the responsivity/dynamic range trade-off. Addressing the problem, both bias voltages (VFID & VGSK) applied to sensing and skimming cells, respectively, should be precisely adjusted so as to avoid any saturation while maintaining sufficient responsivity, and their noise levels must be low enough considering the noise amplification in the signal chain.
AB - A micro-bolometer focal plane array (MBFPA) detector is one of the best candidates for thermal imaging cameras due to its excellent uncooled imaging performance with low manufacturing cost [1-4]. In Fig. 10.8.1, remote infra-red signals from thermal objects are maximized and absorbed at the MEMS micro-bolometer pixels having a λ/4 cavity structure, and they are then converted into resistance of a thermistor layer in each cell. Then, a CMOS analog front-end (AFE) reads out the cell resistance value in current-mode by applying a voltage bias to the micro-bolometer pixel. In the readout process, the skimming cell that does not respond to the infra-red signal is used to remove the offset components by generating an opposite-phase current, which in turn alleviates the system required resolution. Nevertheless, there is still very significant fixed-pattern noise (FPN) resulting from process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations, and this severely limits the responsivity/dynamic range trade-off. Addressing the problem, both bias voltages (VFID & VGSK) applied to sensing and skimming cells, respectively, should be precisely adjusted so as to avoid any saturation while maintaining sufficient responsivity, and their noise levels must be low enough considering the noise amplification in the signal chain.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046442114&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046442114&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ISSCC.2018.8310249
DO - 10.1109/ISSCC.2018.8310249
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85046442114
T3 - Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference
SP - 192
EP - 194
BT - 2018 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2018
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 65th IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2018
Y2 - 11 February 2018 through 15 February 2018
ER -