Silicon avalanche transition edge bolometer: approaching the thermodynamic limit for uncooled long-wave infrared detection

RESUMO

Bolometers transduce incident electromagnetic radiation into measurable electrical signals via radiation-induced heating in thermo-resistive materials. They are uniquely capable of detecting low-energy photons without cryogenic cooling, and are widely deployed for uncooled long-wave infrared (LWIR) radiation detection and thermal imaging. Although their fundamental detection limit is set by the thermodynamic fluctuations, state-of-the-art uncooled bolometers still operate well above this limit due to the presence of Johnson noise, 1/f noise and noises from the readout circuits. Here, we address this challenge by introducing a new uncooled LWIR bolometer concept---the silicon avalanche transition edge (SATE) bolometer. Operating near the steep current transition edge associated with avalanche breakdown, the device exhibits an ultra-high, positive temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of 330 %/K, greatly suppressing the impacts of other noise sources. Even without any thermal insulation structures, the SATE bolometer delivers a high room-temperature responsivity up to 160 mA/W for 9.5 $\mu$m radiation, a noise equivalent power of 370 pW/$\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, and a strong electro-thermal feedback enlarged bandwidth of 77 kHz---performance unattainable with conventional bolometer materials with a TCR of $-1\sim-3\%$/K. Our work establishes a promising thermo-electric transduction mechanism toward high-sensitivity, high-speed room-temperature thermal imaging and infrared spectroscopy using CMOS technology.