Texas Instruments Corporation

Dane A McNeill

Kent McCormack

An improved ferroelectric imaging system comprises a chopper, lens system, ferroelectric detector matrix, anistropic heat sink, switching matrix, temperature controlled heat sink, drive and read out electronics, video processor, and display. The chopper interrupts infrared energy emanating from a scene, and the lens system focuses the chopped infrared energy on the ferroelectric detector matrix which produces electrical signals representative of the infrared energy impinging thereon. The signals are read out by the drive and read out electronics whose action is synchronized with the chopper action, processed in the video processor and displayed by the display. The ferroelectric detector matrix is a plurality of detector capacitor elements whose lower plates are metal pads formed on the lower surface of the dielectric which is a wafer of ferroelectric material. The switching matrix includes a corresponding plurality of solid state switches operatively connected to output pads, a bias source, and the drive and readout electronics. The anisotropic heat sink includes a plurality of spaced conductor rods of a preselected cross-sectional area and length. The conductor rods are grown on the output pads of the solid state switches and the lower plate capacitor pads are bump bonded to their ends. The conductor rods are either vacuum packed or glass packed depending on their mechanical strength to support the detector matrix. The conductor rods are formed by coating the switching matrix with a photoresist, patterning the photoresist, and electrodepositing metal in the pattern of photoresist. Additional layers are used where necessary to achieve the preselected length. The photoresist is then removed to leave the conducting rods in a spaced relationship. To provide additional mechanical strength the conductor rods are refilled with a glass filled photoresist, the photoresist exposed and removed to leave the glass particles which are sintered to provide a glass frit support for the conductor rods.

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Dallas, TX, United States of America

Dane A McNeill