Detection of terahertz radiation using improved uncooled focal plane array detector

A terahertz (THz) microbolometer detector and corresponding real-time imaging system were introduced in this paper. A 10nm NiCr thin film was integrated in the micro-bridge structure as the THz absorption layer by magnetron sputtering and reactive ion etching (RIE), and its improvement of THz absorption was verified by optical characteristics test. Through complicated semiconductor process, a microbolometer detector of 320×240 THz focal plane array (FPA) was prepared. And a real-time imaging system was established to identify the perfomance of this detector. The results demonstrated that the detector could get conscious THz image using a 2.52 THz far-infrared gas laser as THz radiation source.