Free-standing AlGaAs thermopiles for improved infrared sensor design

Our group introduced the GaAs/AlGaAs material system for various integrated and micromachined thermoelectric sensors. Investigating the material parameters of Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As in detail indicates that this material system can be optimized with respect to thermoelectric properties. We demonstra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 43; no. 8; pp. 1193 - 1199
Main Authors Dehe, A., Hartnagel, H.L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.08.1996
Subjects
Biosensors
Conducting materials
Infrared detectors
Infrared sensors
Motion detection
Optical imaging
Sensor arrays
Temperature sensors
Thermal sensors
Thermoelectricity
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Summary:Our group introduced the GaAs/AlGaAs material system for various integrated and micromachined thermoelectric sensors. Investigating the material parameters of Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As in detail indicates that this material system can be optimized with respect to thermoelectric properties. We demonstrate that figures of merit Z as high as 1.4/spl times/10/sup -4/ K/sup -1/ are predicted. Simultaneously, this material is compatible for micro-machining purposes. The presented infrared sensor is optimized with respect to the material parameter and design. The sensors do not need a supporting membrane and hence undesirable parallel thermal conductance is reduced. Sensors of different geometrical dimensions have been fabricated and compared. Black body measurements result in responsivities up to R=365 V/W and maximum relative detectivities of D/sup */=6.9/spl times/10/sup 8/ cm/spl radic/(Hz)/W which compare to the predicted performance.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0018-9383
1557-9646
DOI:10.1109/16.506768