Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique

Commissariat a L'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives

Office National D'etudes Et De Recherches Aerospatiales (Onera)

Office Nathional D'etudes Et De Recherches Aerospatiales—onera—chemie De La Huniere

Electricite De France

Office National D'etudes Et De Recherches Aerospatiales

Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique-Cnrs

Stéphane Collin

Jean-Luc Pelouard

Riad Haidar

Jean-Jacques Yon

Fabrice Pardo

Patrick Bouchon

Grégory Vincent

Joël Deschamps

Charlie Koechlin

According to one aspect, the invention relates to a microbolometer array for thermal detection of light radiation in a given spectral band, comprising a supporting substrate and an array of microbolometers () of given dimensions, arranged in an array. Each of said microbolometers comprises a membrane () suspended above said supporting substrate, said membrane consisting of an element () for absorbing the incident radiation and a thermometric element () in thermal contact with the absorber, electrically insulated from said absorber element. The absorber element comprises at least one first metal/insulator/metal (MIM) structure comprising a multilayer of three superposed films of submicron-order thickness i.e. a first metallic film (), a dielectric film (), and a second metallic film (), said MIM structure being able to have a resonant absorption of said incident radiation at at least one wavelength in said spectral band. The area of the microbolometer pixel covered by said membrane () is less than or equal to half of the total area of the microbolometer pixel.

Microbolometer array with improved performance

According to one aspect, the invention relates a spectral band-pass filter, which is optimized for the transmission of an incident wave at at least a first given central wavelength &#x3bb;, and which includes: a metal grating having a thickness (t) greater than approximately &#x3bb;/50 and including at least a first set of substantially identical, parallel slots having a width (W) less than around &#x3bb;/10, and being spaced apart periodically or quasi-periodically according to a first period that is less than said first central wavelength, a layer of dielectric material having a thickness (h) and a given refractive index (n), which is coupled to the metal grating to form a waveguide for the waves diffracted by the grating, said first period of the grating being designed such that only orders 0 and &#xb1;1 of a wave having normal incidence and a wavelength &#x3bb;are diffracted in the layer of dielectric material, the assembly of the dielectric layer and grating being suspended, during use, in a fluid having a refractive index of close to 1.

Spectral band-pass filter having high selectivity and controlled polarization

Growing community of inventors

Cachan, France

Stéphane Collin