MgO sacrificial layer for micromachining uncooled Y-Ba-Cu-O IRmicrobolometers on Si3N4 bridges

This paper describes a new micromachining technique for fabrication of semiconducting yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) microbolometers using magnesium oxide (MgO) as the sacrificial layer. This type of bolometer can be operated at room temperature, providing a low-cost alternative for more expensive cryogenically cooled thermal detectors used for infrared (IR) imaging. The new micromachining techniques described here would enable the fabrication of YBCO IR focal plane array (FPA) with CMOS signal processing circuitry. Devices were fabricated by growing YBCO films on 4000-Å-thick suspended Si₃N₄ membranes measuring 40×40 μm² in area and extended over micromachined air gaps, which provide the low thermal conductivity that is required for high responsivity. The gap was created by etching an MgO sacrificial layer. This is the first example of using MgO in this type of application. The MgO sacrificial layer technique is fully CMOS compatible and presents no major fabrication challenges. Thermal conductivities achieved in vacuum with the Si₃N₄ suspended structures were on the order of 10^-7 W/K, yielding an effective thermal isolation for bolometer operation. Optical characterization has shown responsivity up to 60 kV/W and detectivity over 10⁸ cm.Hz^1/2/W to black-body IR radiation, indicating that this technology is a suitable candidate for low-cost thermal imaging     

Fabrication of semiconducting YBaCuO surface-micromachinedbolometer arrays

Thermal infrared detectors require thermal isolation to permit the infrared-sensitive material to integrate the incident photon energy and thereby obtain high responsivity and detectivity. This paper describes the fabrication of semiconducting YBaCuO microbolometer arrays into thermal isolation structures by employing Si surface-micromachining techniques. An isotropic HF:HNO₃ etch was used to remove the underlying Si substrate from the front-side of the wafer and suspend SiO ₂ membranes into 1×10 pixel-array structures. The infrared-sensitive material, YBaCuO, was subsequently deposited onto the thermal isolation structures and patterned to form the detector arrays. The high-temperature coefficient of resistance and low noise of semiconducting YBaCuO at room temperature is attractive for uncooled infrared detection. The fabrication process was conducted entirely at room temperature. In this manner, infrared detectors are fabricated in a process that is compatible with CMOS technology to allow for the integration with on-chip signal processing circuitry. The end result is low-cost infrared-detector arrays for night vision in a variety of applications including transportation and security. Preliminary results show a temperature coefficient of resistance above 3%, voltage responsivity close to 10⁴ V/W, and detectivity over 10⁷ cm·Hz^1/2/W at a bias current of 0.79 μA     

Characterizations of VO2-based uncooled microbolometer linear array

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) thin films are materials for uncooled microbolometer due to their high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) at room temperature. This paper describes the design and fabrication of eight-element uncooled microbolometer linear array using the films and micromachining technology. The characteristics of the array is investigated in the spectral region of 8–12 μm. The fabricated detectors exhibit responsivity of over 10 kV/W, detectivity of approximate 1.94×10⁸ cm Hz^1/2/W, and thermal time constant of 11 ms, at 300 K and at a frequency of 30 Hz. Furthermore, the uncorrected response uniformity of the linear array bolometers is less than 20%.     

A Low-Cost 128 × 128 Uncooled Infrared Detector Array in CMOS Process

This paper discusses the implementation of a low-cost 128 times 128 uncooled infrared microbolometer detector array together with its integrated readout circuit (ROC) using a standard 0.35 mum n-well CMOS and post-CMOS MEMS processes. The detector array can be created with simple bulk-micromachining processes after the CMOS fabrication, without the need for any complicated lithography or deposition steps. The array detectors are based on suspended p⁺-active/n-well diode microbolometers with a pixel size of 40 mum times 40 mum and a fill factor of 44%. The p⁺-active/n-well diode detector has a measured dc responsivity (R) of 4970 V/W and a thermal time constant of 36 ms at 50 mtorr vacuum level. The total measured rms noise of the diode type detector is 0.69 muV for an 8 kHz bandwidth, resulting in a detectivity (D*) of 9.7 times 10⁸ cm ldr Hz^1/2/W. The array is scanned by an integrated 32-channel parallel ROC including low-noise differential preamplifiers with an electrical bandwidth of 8 kHz. The 128 times 128 focal plane array (FPA) has one row of infrared-blind reference detectors that reduces the effect of FPA fixed pattern noise and variations in the operating temperature relaxing the requirements for the temperature stabilization. Including the noise of the reference and array detectors together with the ROC noise, the fabricated 128 times 128 FPA has an expected noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) value of 1 K for f/1 optics at 30 frames/s (fps) scanning rate. This NETD value can be decreased to 350 mK by improving the post-CMOS fabrication steps and increasing the number of readout channels.     

Manufacture and characterization of sol–gel V1−x−yWxSiyO2 films for uncooled thermal detectors

V_1−x−yW_xSi_yO₂ films for uncooled thermal detectors were coated on sodium-free glass slides with sol–gel process, followed by the calcination under a reducing atmosphere (Ar/H₂ 5%). The V_1−x−yW_xSi_yO₂ films as prepared inherit various phase transition temperatures ranging from 20 to 70 °C depending on the dopant concentrations and the fabrication conditions. Compared to the hysteresis loop of plain VO₂ films, a rather steep loop was obtained with the addition of tungsten components, while a relaxed hysteresis loop with the tight bandwidth was contributed by Si dopants. Furthermore, the films with switching temperature close to room temperature were fabricated to one-element bolometers to characterize their figures of merit. Results showed that the V_0.905W_0.02Si_0.075O₂ film presented a satisfactory responsivity of 2600 V/W and detectivity of 9 × 10⁶ cm  Hz^1/2/W with chopper frequencies ranging from 30 to 60 Hz at room temperature. It was proposed that with appropriate amount of silicon and tungsten dopants mixed in the VO₂, the film would characterize both a relaxed hysteresis loop and a fair TCR value, which effectively reduced the magnitude of noise equivalent power without compromising its performance in detectivity and responsivity.     

Performance of GaAs microbridge thermocouple infrared detectors

GaAs microbridge thermocouples with lengths ranging from 40 to 650 μm and operating at room temperature have been fabricated for the detection of infrared radiation. A CO₂ laser of a 10.6 μm wavelength was used to characterize the performance of the detectors in air and in vacuum. A responsivity of 4.2 V/W with a corresponding detectivity D*=8×10⁶ cm Hz^1/2/W and a time constant of 2.2 ms have been measured in vacuum for 650-μm-long bridges, and a shorter time constant of 50 μs was obtained for 40-μm-long bridges. An analytic thermal transport model has been used to simulate the operation of the sensors. The heat-transfer coefficient has been evaluated by comparing the data from air and vacuum measurements. The spectral response and the absorbance of the microbridge have also been presented     

Nanoscale Calorimetry Using a Suspended Bridge Configuration

Abstract A new setup for small-scale differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies based on a suspended bridge configuration is presented. The new setup has three major advantages over previously reported DSC setups: 1) superior temperature uniformity in the bridge cross section; 2) less heat loss to the surroundings by at least two orders of magnitude; and 3) a faster transient response by three orders of magnitude. This paper includes a thermal analysis to support these improvements. A major contribution of the new thermal analysis over previous reports is the inclusion of the thermal mass of the substrate in calculations, which makes thermal design more detailed, dramatically affecting accuracy and sensitivity in measurements. Furthermore, the new thermal analysis more accurately accounts for heat loss to the substrate and the surroundings in efforts to resolve suspected inconsistencies in previously reported data. Experimental validation of the new setup is presented by measuring the specific heat of thin layers of Si0₂ and CoFe. The specific heat of Si0₂ was found to be 2.2 times 10⁶ Jm ^-3 K^-1 which is nearly 10% different from the literature values of bulk specimens. For CoFe, the specific heat value of 3.16 x 10⁶ Jm ^-3 K^-1 is obtained using differential Cu/Si0₂ and Cu/Si0₂/CoFe structures compared to the value of 3.5 times 10⁶ Jm ^-3 K^-1 obtained using single CoFe suspended structure.     

Process-dependent thin-film thermal conductivities for thermal CMOSMEMS

The thermal conductivities κ of the dielectric and conducting thin films of three commercial CMOS processes were determined in the temperature range from 120 to 400 K. The measurements were performed using micromachined heatable test structures containing the layers to be characterized. The κ values of thermally grown silicon oxides are reduced from bulk fused silica by roughly 20%. The κ of phosphosilicate and borophosphosilicate glasses are 0.94±0.08 W m^-1 K^-1 and 1.18±0.06 W m^-1 K^-1, respectively, at 300 K. A plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposition silicon-nitride layer has a thermal conductivity of 2.23±0.12 W m^-1 K^-1 at 300 K. This value is between published data for atmospheric-pressure CVD and low-pressure CVD nitrides. For the metal layers, we found thermal conductivities between 167 W m^-1 K^-1 and 206 W m ^-1 K^-1, respectively, at 300 K, to be compared with 238 W m^-1 K^-1 of bulk aluminum. The temperature-dependent product κρ of κ with the electrical resistivity ρ agrees better than 8.2% between 180-400 K with that of pure bulk aluminum. The κ values of the polysilicon layers are between 22.4 W m^-1 K^-1 and 37.3 W m^-1 K^-1 at 300 K. They are reduced from similarly doped bulk silicon by factors of between 2.0-1.3. The observed discrepancies between thin film and bulk data demonstrate the importance of determining the process-dependent thermal conductivities of CMOS thin films     

Sacrificial layer process with laser-driven release for batchassembly operations

A dry sacrificial layer process is presented in which microstructures fabricated on UV-transparent substrates are released by excimer laser ablation of a polymer sacrificial material using laser light incident from the reverse side of the substrate. We investigate the application of this technique to the batch assembly of hybrid microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) built from parts fabricated on different substrates. Preliminary measurements of initial velocity are presented for nickel test structures released from polyimide sacrificial layers using a KrF excimer laser. At fluences in the range 50-250 mJ/cm ² (i.e., close to the ablation threshold), structures with heights of 100 μm are shown to exhibit initial velocities in the range 15 ms^-1, allowing controlled transfer of parts between substrates. Application of the new assembly method to a MEMS device is demonstrated by assembling arrays of electrostatic wobble motors from component parts fabricated on separate substrates by UV-LIGA processing     

Preparation of BST ferroelectric thin film by metal organic decomposition for infrared sensor

Barium strontium titanate (Ba_1−xSr_xTiO₃) ferroelectric thin films have been prepared by metal organic decomposition (MOD) on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si and on micromachined wafer with an aim to fabricate dielectric bolometer type infrared (IR) sensor. The XRD pattern and D–V hysteresis curve of the film have been measured in order to investigate the effects of the final annealing temperature and annealing time on the property of the film. The results show that the films annealed at 700 °C or 800 °C all have good perovskite structure, while the film annealed at 800 °C has better ferroelectric loops. Films annealed at 800 °C with different annealing time from 5 to 60 min show a similar perovskite structure, among which films annealed at 30 and 60 min condition have the better ferroelectric loops. Temperature coefficient of dielectric constant (TCD) of the MOD made BST thin film on micromachined substrate is about 1%/K. The uniformity of the BST film on micromachined Si wafer also has been confirmed to be good enough for operation of sensor array. Chopperless operation has been attained and infrared response evaluation of the fabricated sensor also has been carried out with R_v of 0.4 kV/W and D^* of 1.0×10⁸ cm Hz^1/2/W, respectively.     

A high-Tc superconductor bolometer on a silicon nitridemembrane

In this paper, we describe the design, fabrication, and performance of a high-T_c GdBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ superconductor bolometer positioned on a 2× 2-mm² 1-μm-thick silicon nitride membrane. The bolometer structure has an effective area of 0.64 mm² and was grown on a specially developed silicon-on-nitride (SON) layer. This layer was made by direct bonding of silicon nitride to silicon after chemical mechanical polishing. The operation temperature of the bolometer is 85 K. A thermal conductance G=3.3·10^-5 W/K with a time constant of 27 ms has been achieved. The electrical noise equivalent power (NEP) at 5 Hz is 3.7·10^-2 WHz^-1/2, which is very close to the theoretical phonon noise limit of 3.6·10^-12 WHz ^-1/2, meaning that the excess noise of the superconducting film is very low. This bolometer is comparable to other bolometers with respect to high electrical performance. Our investigations are now aimed at decreasing the NEP for 84-μm radiation by further reduction of G and adding an absorption layer to the detector. This bolometer is intended to be used as a detector in a Fabry-Perot (FP)-based satellite instrument designed for remote sensing of atmospheric hydroxyl     

Fabrication of ultrathin p++ silicon microstructuresusing ion implantation and boron etch-stop

This paper discusses the fabrication of submicron p⁺⁺ silicon microstructures for a number of MEMS applications using boron ion implantation, rapid thermal annealing, and boron etch-stop. To form these thin structures, the silicon is implanted with boron at an energy of 40 keV and doses of 5×10¹⁵ cm^-2 and 7×10¹⁵ cm^-2, which produce a peak concentration of more than 10²⁰ cm^-3, sufficient for achieving an effective etch-stop in ethylene diamine pyrocathecol. The thickness of the p⁺⁺ layer varies from 0.2 to 0.3 μm depending on the annealing time and temperature. SUPREM simulation has been used to determine optimum implantation and annealing conditions. A number of microstructures, including thin silicon diaphragms as large as 2 mm on a side and 0.2 μm thick, hot wire anemometers with a temperature coefficient of resistance of ~1600 ppm/°C, and piezoresistive sound detectors, have been fabricated with high reproducibility, uniformity, and yield     

Preparation of PCLT/P(VDF-TrFE) pyroelectric sensor based on plastic film substrate

Nanosized lead titanate doped with calcium and lanthanum (PCLT) powder obtained by the sol–gel method was homogeneously mixed with vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene [P(VDF-TrFE)]. The nanocomposite PCLT/P(VDF-TrFE) film was used as the sensing film for pyroelectric sensors, whose detective merit was about 22.4% higher than that of sensors using pure P(VDF-TrFE). A 35 nm ITO film was deposited as the bottom electrode on PET plastic film substrate, on which PCLT/P(VDF-TrFE) was prepared by spin-coating, and Ni–Cr film was chosen as the upper electrode. The PET plastic film substrate could effectively decrease the thermal conductivity of the element and the ITO bottom electrode could reflect the infrared irradiation. The voltage responsivity was increased and the thermal fluctuation noise of the pyroelectric element was decreased significantly. The experimental results indicated that the specific detectivity of PCLT/P(VDF-TrFE) pyroelectric sensors based on PET film substrate reached 3.4E7 cm Hz^1/2 W⁻¹, more than two orders of magnitude higher than that of the sensors on bulk silicon substrate formed under the same conditions.     

Thermal characterization of surface-micromachined silicon nitridemembranes for thermal infrared detectors

The aim of this work is to provide a thorough thermal characterization of membrane structures intended for thermal infrared detector arrays. The fabrication has been conducted at temperatures below 400°C to allow future post processing onto existing CMOS readout circuitry. Our choices of membrane material and processing technique were plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride (SiN) and surface micromachining, respectively. The characterization gave for the thermal conductance (G) and thermal mass between the membrane and its surroundings 1.8·10^-7 W/K and 1.7·10^-9 J/K, respectively, which are close to the best reported values elsewhere. From these results the thermal conductivity and specific heat of SiN were extracted as 4.5±0.7 W/m.K and 1500±230 J/kg.K. The contribution to G from different heat transfer mechanisms are estimated. A model describing the pressure dependence of G was developed and verified experimentally in the pressure interval [5·10^-3, 1000] mbar. Finally, the influence of the thermal properties of the membrane on infrared detector performance is discussed     

Electric and ferroelectric properties of PZT/SBT multilayer films prepared by photochemical metal-organic deposition

The electric and ferroelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate and strontium bismuth tantalate multilayer films prepared using photosensitive starting precursors were characterized. The electric and ferroelectric properties were investigated by characterization of the effect of stacking order of four ferroelectric layers of PZT or SBT in the multilayer films of 4-PZT, PZT/2-SBT/PZT, SBT/2-PZT/SBT, and 4-SBT. The P_r value of the 4-SBT multilayer film was relatively small (6 μC/cm²) and a two times higher value (12 μC/cm²) was obtained with the SBT/2-PZT/SBT multilayer film. The films with SBT layers at the top and bottom showed improved leakage current and fatigue resistance compared to the films with PZT layers at the top and bottom. It was revealed that the defect dipole was reduced at the SBT/Pt interface due to a self-regulation layer such as (Bi₂O₂)²⁺ in the SBT film. Also, the bottom layer on the Pt substrate showed a significant influence on the growth orientation of the entire ferroelectric films.     

Thermal conductivity of doped polysilicon layers

The thermal conductivities of doped polysilicon layers depend on grain size and on the concentration and type of dopant atoms. Previous studies showed that layer processing conditions strongly influence the thermal conductivity, but the effects of grain size and dopant concentration were not investigated in detail. The current study provides thermal conductivity measurements for low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition (LPCVD) polysilicon layers of thickness near 1 μm doped with boron and phosphorus at concentrations between 2.0×10¹⁸ cm^-3 and 4.1×10¹⁹ cm^-3 for temperatures from 20 K to 320 K. The data show strongly reduced thermal conductivity values at all temperatures compared to similarly doped single-crystal silicon layers, which indicates that grain boundary scattering dominates the thermal resistance. A thermal conductivity model based on the Boltzmann transport equation reveals that phonon transmission through the grains is high, which accounts for the large phonon mean free paths at low temperatures. Algebraic expressions relating thermal conductivity to grain size and dopant concentration are provided for room temperature. The present results are important for the design of MEMS devices in which heat transfer in polysilicon is important     

Micromachined silicon bolometers as detectors of soft X-ray, ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation

This paper presents the development of micromachined thin-film silicon microbolometers which can be used for detection of soft X-ray, UV, visible and infrared radiation. The detector structure is a 1 μm thick polysilicon/Si₃N₄ membrane suspended over a cavity. This structure has been obtained by anisotropic etching of silicon with a previously deposited polysilicon/Si₃N₄ sandwich. Alternatively, porous silicon has been used as the sacrificial layer. Devices have been characterized. Good values of the voltage responsivity and detectivity have been obtained.     

Capacitive microphone with a surface micromachined backplate usingelectroplating technology

A technology for surface micromachining of free-standing metal microstructures using metal electrodeposition on a sacrificial photoresist layer has been applied to a condenser microphone. Electroplating technology has been used to implement a suspended and perforated 15-μm-thick microstructure in copper, which serves as backplate electrode in the condenser microphone. The 1.8×1.8 mm ² large microphone diaphragm is in monocrystalline silicon and is fabricated with anisotropic etching of the substrate wafer. The realized prototypes have a measured sensitivity of 1.4 mV/Pa using a bias voltage of 28 V. The bandwidth is limited by an anti-resonance at 14 kHz which is due to the semi-rigid backplate. The resonance behavior of the backplate structure has been analyzed with finite element modeling with results in good agreement with measured data     

Silicon membrane nanofilters from sacrificial oxide removal

Silicon micropore filter designs using a sacrificial oxide removal technique are described. These filters utilize surface and bulk micromachining for precise control of pore sizes in the tens of nanometers range. The semipermeable membrane of the sacrificial layer filters (SLFs) is typically composed of sandwiched p⁺ polysilicon/oxide/p⁺ silicon layers where the sacrificial oxide between the two silicon layers determines the pore size of the filter. The purpose of this paper is to address special design and fabrication considerations for control of pore size uniformity within 10%, adapting surface conditions for filtration fluxes of deionized water to fall in the range of 1 ml/cm²h, and maximization of the structural response of SLFs. Fluorescent beads are used to analyze the pore size uniformity of fabricated filters, with achievements of four-log reduction in fluorescent bead concentration     

Uncooled multimirror broad-band infrared microbolometers

A new generation of microbolometers were designed, fabricated and tested for the NASA CERES (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System) instrument to measure the radiation flux at the Earth's surface and the radiant energy now within the atmosphere. These detectors are designed to measure the earth radiances in three spectral channels consisting of a short wave channel of 0.3 to 5 /spl mu/m, a wide-band channel of 0.3 to 100 /spl mu/m and a window channel from 8 to 12 /spl mu/m each housing a 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm microbolometers or alternatively 400 /spl mu/m x 400 mm microbolometers in a 1 /spl times/ 4 array of detectors in each of the three wavelength bands, thus yielding a total of 12 channels. The microbolometers were fabricated by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature, using polyimide sacrificial layers and standard micromachining techniques. A semiconducting YBaCuO thermometer was employed. A double micromirror structure with multiple resonance cavities was designed to achieve a relatively uniform absorption from 0.3 to 100 /spl mu/m wavelength. Surface micromachining techniques in conjunction with a polyimide sacrificial layer were utilized to create a gap underneath the detector and the Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ bridge layer. The temperature coefficient of resistance was measured to be -2.8%/K. The voltage responsivities were over 10/sup 3/ V/W, detectivities above 10/sup 8/ cm Hz/sup 1/2//W, noise equivalent power less than 4 /spl times/ 10/sup -10/W/Hz/sup 1/2/ and thermal time constant less than 15 ms.