NASA NTRS · 20230005725
Light-concentrating microcone array for improving performance of infrared imaging devices
Abstract
Light-harvesting low-index (n=1.6) microconical arrays are proposed for increasing the sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of mid-wave infrared (MWIR) focal plane arrays (FPAs) used in thermal cameras. Numerical modeling showed a 3-D Power enhancement factor ~ 50 in MWIR for 10° tapered microcones with Dt/Db = 60 μm/8μm and h=150μm, where Dt and Db are the top and bottom diameters of microcones, respectively. Such microconical arrays were fabricated in photoresist by using a nanoscribe tool directly on top of the front-illuminated Ni/Si Schottky-barrier, and three-fold enhancement in the photocurrent response was observed. The proposed approach permits increase of the SNR and the operation temperature of the MWIR imaging devices.
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Astratov, Vasily N., Allen, Kenneth W., Urbas, Augustine M., Limberopoulos, Nicholaos I., Anisimov, Igor, Ariyawansa, Gamini, Duran, Joshua M., Bidney, Grant W., Brettin, Aaron, Jin, Boya, Gunapala, Sarath. 2021-08-16. Light-concentrating microcone array for improving performance of infrared imaging devices. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20230005725
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