Method and apparatus providing focal plane array active thermal control elements
First Claim
1. A focal plane array (FPA) of infrared (IR) radiation detectors, comprising:
- an active area comprised of a plurality of IR radiation detectors;
a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) that is mechanically and electrically coupled to said active area; and
disposed on said ROIC, a plurality of heater elements that are located and operated so as to provide a substantially uniform temperature across at least said active area.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A focal plane array (FPA) of infrared (IR) radiation detectors (20), such as an array of microbolometers, includes an active area (20A) containing a plurality of IR radiation detectors, a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) (12) that is mechanically and electrically coupled to the active area and, disposed on the ROIC, a plurality of heater elements (30A) that are located and operated so as to provide a substantially uniform thermal distribution across at least the active area. The FPA further includes a plurality of temperature sensors (30B), individual ones of which are spatially associated with one of the heater elements for sensing the temperature in the vicinity of the associated heater element for providing closed loop operation of the associated heater element. In one embodiment pairs of the heater elements and associated temperature sensors are distributed in a substantially uniform manner across at least a top or a bottom surface of the ROIC, while in another embodiment pairs of the heater elements and associated temperature sensors, or only the heater elements, are distributed in accordance with a predetermined thermal profile of the FPA. The plurality of heater elements may each be composed of a silicon resistance, and the plurality of temperature sensors may each be each composed of a silicon temperature sensor.
14 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A focal plane array (FPA) of infrared (IR) radiation detectors, comprising:
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an active area comprised of a plurality of IR radiation detectors;
a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) that is mechanically and electrically coupled to said active area; and
disposed on said ROIC, a plurality of heater elements that are located and operated so as to provide a substantially uniform temperature across at least said active area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for operating a focal plane array (FPA) of infrared (IR) radiation detectors, comprising:
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providing the FPA so as to be comprised of an active area comprised of a plurality of IR radiation detectors and a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) that is mechanically and electrically coupled to the active area, the FPA exhibiting a non-uniform thermal distribution during operation; and
during the operation of the FPA, operating a plurality of heater elements that are disposed on the ROIC so as to provide a substantially uniform distribution of temperature across at least the active area. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A focal plane array (FPA) of radiation detectors, comprising:
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an active area comprised of an array of microbolometers;
a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) that is mechanically and electrically coupled to said active area; and
a plurality of temperature sensors and heater elements coupled together for operating in a closed loop manner for substantially minimizing a temperature gradient across at least said active area. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification