New high detectivity linear array for analytical measurement in the room temperature range

A newly designed highly detective intra-slit thermoelectric room-temperature linear array is presented. The thermoelectric sensor array ZS-64-2 with 64 individually readable channels was designed and developed for IR spectroscopy. It is suitable for analytical measurement technology, for example, in determining the age of technical oils in real time. For this, the selected absorption bands of the oil are analyzed and evaluated. This allows conclusions be drawn about the condition of lubricants and coolants, so that they can be replaced when it is needed. This method helps to save valuable resources and it helps to avoid costly damages. In order to achieve the high detectivity of D* = 1.8 x 109 Jones the sensor was designed and optimized to be operated under vacuum conditions. For minimizing the thermal cross talk between the individual pixels, they are separated from each other by a 50 micron slit in the self-supporting silicon nitride membrane, which has a thickness of nearly 1 micron.