The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 02, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 17, 2000
Steven Tidrow, Silver Spring, MD (US);
Meimei Tidrow, Silver Spring, MD (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A method of fabricating an uncooled ferroelectric/pyroelectric infrared detector having a semi-transparent electrode material includes using a lattice matched substrate material and a crystallographically oriented bottom electrode material as a template for the growth of a crystallographically oriented ferroelectric/pyroelectric film. In a second preferred embodiment, the method includes fabricating a detector assembly, inverting the assembly, and attaching the inverted assembly to a circuit. This embodiment avoids temperature processing constraints associated with the circuit, and thus facilitates the use of higher growth temperatures. Advantages associated with the embodiments of the present invention include the ability to fabricate a crystallographically oriented bottom electrode material as a template for the growth of a crystallographically oriented ferroelectric/pyroelectric film. Furthermore, once the fabrication is complete, the substrate upon which the electrode is deposited can be easily removed. Finally, by virtue of the crystallographically oriented ferroelectric/pyroclectric film, a significant improvement in the overall performance of the detector, and thus in a device such as a focal plane array, is achieved.