1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an infrared detector and readout electronics for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thermal infrared detector in which a bolometer is used is known. This type of detector converts the temperature distribution of a subject into a picture image. The bolometer is a device for detecting the infrared ray by applying the phenomenon where the resistance of a resistor is varied in response to the incidence of the infrared ray. This thermal infrared detector has a matrix consisting of a large number of bolometers. The resistance change in each of those bolometers is electrically read, thereby imaging a two-dimensional picture of the subject through the infrared ray.
The infrared ray emitted from the subject is focused on the surface of the detector and transformed into a picture image. However, the radiation heat entered to the detector from the surrounding area is changed in response to the temperature shift of the circumstance of the detector. It is difficult to distinguish the infrared ray caused by this radiation heat and the infrared ray from the subject. Thus, the infrared picture of the subject is disturbed by the temperature shift of the circumstance.
As one example of the conventional techniques, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-P 2003-106895A) discloses a technique of a thermal infrared detecting device. This thermal infrared detecting device has a pixel of micro-bridge structure, in which a diaphragm having a bolometer layer is hold in the air by a beam the one edge of which is fixed on a board.
As the other example of the conventional techniques, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei, 10-148578) discloses a technique concerning the infrared detector mounting a non-cooled type infrared detecting device which is designed for good performance in the condition not cooled in ultra low temperature, exemplified by a micro bolometer type 2-Dimensional allay infrared detecting device.
The other type of the thermal infrared detector is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-P 2000-292253A), for reducing the change in a radiation heat entered from the surrounding area of the detector.
Inside the vacuum vessel 103, a cooling unit 107 is installed on the side opposite to the window 106. An infrared detecting unit 102 having an infrared detecting device for detecting the infrared ray entered from the window 106 is installed on the side oriented to the window 106 of the cooling unit 107. The infrared detecting unit 102 is surrounded by a metallic part shown as a radiation shield 112. The radiation shield 112 is in contact with the cooling unit 107. The radiation shield 112 has an opening for transmitting the infrared ray. The radiation shield 112 blocks the infrared ray from being inputted to the infrared detecting unit 102 from the direction except the window 106.
The vacuum vessel 103 has an exhaust pipe 108 connected to a vacuuming unit. The vacuum vessel 103 further has a connecting terminal 113 for electrically connecting the infrared detecting unit 102 and the outside of the vacuum vessel 103.
When the thermal infrared detector is used, the inside area of the vacuum vessel is made vacuum by being degassed from the exhaust pipe 108 and isolated from the circumstance. Then, the cooling unit 107 is driven. The infrared detecting unit 102 and the radiation shield 112 are cooled by the cooling unit 107.
The infrared detecting unit 102 is driven. The infrared detecting unit 102 detects the infrared ray which is emitted from the target 130 and inputted through the optical unit 132, and converts into an electronic signal. The electronic signal is sent through the connecting terminal 113 to the outside of the vacuum vessel 103.
The infrared ray P1 from the target 130 and the infrared ray P2 from the radiation shield 112 are entered to the infrared detecting unit 102. The infrared ray P3 from the vacuum vessel 103 is not entered to the infrared detecting unit 102 because it is blocked by the radiation shield 112. Since the radiation shield 112 is cooled by the cooling unit 107, the change of the infrared ray P2 from the radiation shield is suppressed.
In the thermal infrared detector having the radiation shield, the electric power consumption is increased in order to keep the radiation shield at a constant temperature in addition to the infrared detecting device. Moreover, the installation of the radiation shield makes the size of the vacuum vessel larger.
In order to achieve an aspect of the present invention, an infrared detector includes a: plurality of infrared detecting devices converting an incident infrared ray into an electric signal; a shielding member preventing an infrared ray radiated from a target object from inputted to a reference device which is a part of the plurality of infrared detecting devices; and a circuit configured to read a deviation of an electronic signal generated by a part of the plurality of infrared detecting device from an electronic signal generated by the reference device.
According to the present invention, a thermal infrared detector that is robust against a temperature change in the external environment is provided.
Moreover, according to the present invention, a thermal infrared detector that is small and light is provided.
Moreover, according to the present invention, a thermal infrared detector whose electric power consumption is small is provided.
Moreover, according to the present invention, a thermal infrared detector in which the variable range of the diaphragm of the optical unit is large is provided.
A thermal infrared detector in the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
A cooling unit 7 having an electronic cooling device that uses the Peltier effect is installed inside the vacuum vessel 3. An infrared detecting unit 2 where infrared detecting devices for detecting the infrared ray entered from the window 6 are placed in the arrangement of a matrix is installed on the highest portion (the side oriented to the window 6) of the cooling unit 7. The lowest portion of the cooling unit 7 is adhered onto one side of the vacuum vessel 3.
The vacuum vessel 3 is connected to an exhaust pipe 8 made of metal that is connected to a vacuuming unit. On the lower portion of the vacuum vessel 3, there is an external connecting terminal 13 to electrically connect the inside and outside of the vacuum vessel 3. The terminal inside the vacuum vessel 3 in the external connecting terminal 13 and the infrared detecting unit 2 are electrically connected through an interconnection. Through this interconnection, a signal for driving the infrared detecting unit 2 is transmitted to the infrared detecting unit 2 from outside the vacuum vessel 3. Moreover, through this interconnection, an output signal from the infrared detecting unit 2 is sent outside the vacuum vessel 3.
Inside the vacuum vessel 3, a light shielding plate 14 for shielding the infrared ray from the target 30 is installed in contact with the inner wall of the vacuum vessel 3. The light shielding plate 14 is preferred to be made of the same material as the vacuum vessel 3. The light shielding plate 14 is further preferred to be formed integrally with the vacuum vessel 3.
The thermal infrared detector 5 in this embodiment does not have the radiation shield 112 included in the thermal infrared detector 101 in the conventional technique shown in
The thermal infrared detector 5 in this embodiment does not require the radiation shield 112, which is cooled by Peltier device in the conventional technique. Therefore the electric power consumed in the cooling unit 107 is reduced.
When the thermal infrared detector 5 is used, the inside of the vacuum vessel 3 is made vacuum by the exhaustion through the exhaust pipe 8 and isolation by closing the exhaust pipe 8. The vacuum vessel 3 is made vacuum, which improves the thermal separation between the diaphragm 1 and the silicon wafer 17. The cooling unit 7 is driven. The infrared detecting unit 2 is cooled by the cooling unit 7.
The diaphragm of the optical unit 32 is adjusted by the diaphragm unit 33. The thermal infrared detector 5 in this embodiment does not have the radiation shield 112 included in the thermal infrared detector 101 of the conventional invention. Thus, because the diaphragm of the optical unit is not limited by the radiation shield 112, the adjustment area of the diaphragm can be set wider.
The infrared detecting unit 2 is driven. The temperature increase in the diaphragm 1, which is caused by the input of the infrared ray, results in the respective shift in the resistance of each bolometer 15. The shift of the resistance of the bolometer 15 is read by applying a bias current. This bias current brings about Joule heating. This Joule heating increases the temperature of the bolometer 15 itself. This temperature increase extremely exceeds the temperature increase in the diaphragm 1 unless any countermeasure is executed. Since the cooling unit 7 cools the infrared detecting unit 2 and discharges the heat to the vacuum vessel 3, the temperature change caused by the Joule heating is suppressed.
The infrared detecting unit 2 detects a infrared ray and converts into an electronic signal. The electronic signal is sent through the external connecting terminal 13 to outside the vacuum vessel 3.
An infrared ray P1 from the target and an infrared ray P3 from the vacuum vessel are inputted to the measuring pixel 21 included in the infrared detecting unit 2. An infrared ray P4 from the light shielding plate is inputted to the reference pixel 19. Since the light shielding plate 14 is formed integrally with the vacuum vessel 3, the infrared ray P3 from the vacuum vessel and the infrared ray P4 from the light shielding plate can be supposed to be equal. Thus, by subtracting the infrared ray P4 from the light shielding plate, which is inputted to the reference pixel 19, from the infrared rays P1+P3 that are inputted to the measuring pixel 21, it is possible to extract the infrared ray P1 from the target, which is originally desired to be converted into a picture image.
The gate of the reference pixels 19 and the gate of the measuring pixel 21 are connected to a common horizontal signal line 26 and controlled by a scanning circuit 25. The source of the reference pixel 19 and the source of the measuring pixel 21 are grounded. Each of drains of the reference pixels 19 is connected to one end of a reference bolometer 15a. The other end of each reference bolometer 15a is connected to a common vertical signal line 27a. The vertical signal line 27a is connected through a switch 29a to a reference voltage generating circuit 28.
Each of the drains of the measuring pixels 21 is connected to one end of the bolometer 15. The other end of each bolometer 15 is connected to a common vertical signal line 27 for each row. Each vertical signal line 27 is connected through a switch 29 to a reading circuit 9. The respective switches 29, 29a are independently controlled. The plurality of reading circuits 9 are connected to a common reading signal line 46.
The reference voltage generating circuit 28 has a MOS transistor 40a. The source of the MOS transistor 40a is connected through the switch 29a to the vertical signal line 27a. The drain is connected to a constant current source 23. The gate is connected to the drain and the horizontal signal line 48.
When the circuit 34 reads the electronic signal from the pixels, the state of the switch 29a is controlled to be on. The measuring pixels 21 placed in the arrangement of the matrix are sequentially appointed as follows. At first, the switches 29 are sequentially turned on, one by one. The switches 29 except the turned on switch are set to be off. Consequently, a certain one of the plurality of vertical signal lines 27 is selected. Among the measuring pixels 21 connected to the selected vertical signal line 27, with regard to the pixel sequentially selected by the scanning circuit 25 for controlling the pixel transistor 24, the resistance of the bolometer 15 is sequentially converted into the electronic signal and read by the reading circuit 9. In the bolometer 15, the resistance is shifted in response to the temperature change of the diaphragm 1 caused by the incident infrared ray. For this reason, the current to be read by the reading circuit 9 is determined in accordance with the input infrared quantity for each pixel. The two-dimensional picture image of the infrared ray emitted from the target 30 is generated by using the read current.
The constant current source 23 sends a constant current I1 to the vertical signal line 27a to which the reference pixel 19 is connected. The reference bolometer 15a is the resistor of a resistance R and generates a voltage of V1=RI1 in accordance with the Ohm's law. The generated voltage V1 is applied to the measuring pixel 21 by the operation of the current mirror circuit such as MOS and the like, or a bridge circuit. Thus, the voltage of the measuring pixel 21, with the voltage of the reference pixel 19 as the baseline (namely, the reference voltage), is read by the reading circuit 9.
Here, let us consider the case where the environmental temperature is changed. The infrared ray from the light shielding plate 14 which is inputted to the reference pixel 19 and the infrared ray from the inner wall of the vacuum vessel 3 which is inputted to the measuring pixel 21 are equal in quantity. For this reason, in the reference pixel 19 and the measuring pixel 21, the changed resistance values are equal. As a result, the reading circuit 9 outputs the electronic signal corresponding to the infrared ray inputted from the target 30 to the reading signal line 46. The influence of the change of the environmental temperature is suppressed. The above mentioned circuit is only one of the possible embodiments. Then, the circuit having a different configuration may be applied, if it is the circuit for reading the electronic signal from the measuring pixel 21 with the reference pixel 19 as a baseline.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-115117 | Apr 2005 | JP | national |