Ask an Expert: What is a Microbolometer?
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- In this episode of Ask an Expert, we delve into the fascinating world of microbolometers for thermal cameras. Our expert Stan Voynick, provides an in-depth explanation of what microbolometers are, how they work, and why they are an essential component of modern thermal imaging technology. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, this episode is a must-watch for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of thermal imaging technology.
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Great video, thanks
Learned a lot thanks
Great! We are glad you came across our channel and thermal cameras. Come back often for more fascinating conversations around infrared technology.
Are MWIR sensors microbolomoter arrays too? At what point is it better to have a micobolomoter array rather than normal CCD/CMOS sensors?
Great question! The MWIR sensors we sell are all cooled sensors, and are all "quantum" type detectors, i.e. photodiodes, or "photovoltaic" detectors. It is seldom driven by the detector type because there are many factors to consider (MWIR vs LWIR) cooled or uncooled and or detection sensitivity. I would encourage you to go to our website sierraolympia.com/ to view all our thermal camera detector options.
I think in another comment you mentioned the sensors in the video are semiconductors, eg the ir photons are jumping a band gap to send a signal down the sensor leads.
IR photons have wavelengths in the few um range, so is that what's limiting the resolution of the sensors? RGB sensors could be packed 100× more dense, given 0.7um photons in the red part of light vs 7um photons for MIR in a 10×10 array.
it is part of the limit, yes. Where as you see modern phone sensors with 1um pixels, you will never see a LWIR sensor with a pitch that small.
With that said, most RGB sensors have pixels in the 3-6um range, which could work fine for SWIR and much of MWIR, its just the technology has not quite gotten there yet.
@@ZevHoover it's been several years since Iray has announced a 8μm pixel pictch microbolometer for lwir. But I haven't seen it in a product.
You also can't compare microbolometers with with CMOS or even CCD pixels.
The gaps between the active collector area is quite notable and the fraction of active area fraction scales by a square.
Leonardo DRS has a special umbrella shaped design for their pixels. It's more area efficient than other microbolometers and therefore their tenum (10 μm pixel pictch) models make viable products.
My own collection has 35, 25, 17 and 12μm pixel pitch sensors... I haven't yet compared them well enough
Is there a vacuum between a front lense and a microbolometer?
It varies based on the sensor type. In this video, we feature the Athena sensor on the Vayu HD, and it indeed incorporates a vacuum between the lens and the sensor for optimal performance. However, it's worth noting that the Tenum 640 follows a different design and doesn't utilize a vacuum in its configuration.