PSICE modelling and parametric study of microbolometer thermal detectors

Abstract : The operation of a bolometer thermal sensor is analogous to that of a charging capacitor in a generic RC circuit. As such, circuits containing bolometers can be analyzed with standard circuit simulation programs such as PSPICE. This thesis deals with the development of a bolometer model by using PSPICE with the aid of Analogue Behavior Modeling (ABM) capability, which allows the user to program circuit components with basic mathematical functions. The predictions of the model were found to be in good agreement with the reported experimental data, which demonstrates the accuracy of the model. The model was used to design a self-heating compensated thermal sensor with enhanced signal integration capability to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. We believe the model can be used to analyze any circuit containing bolometers to optimize the performance.