The design and integration of CMOS readout circuitry with an amorphous-germanium silicon oxide uncooled infrared microbolometer

This thesis takes an existing process for a CMOS compatible IR micro-bolometer and integrates it with CMOS readout circuits. Three readout circuits are presented in this thesis. The CMOS readout circuits designed were fabricated through a foundry service, while the bolometers were fabricated on die in house. A procedure enabling fabrication of bolometers by post-processing CMOS die is presented in this thesis. A comparison of three different bolometer readout circuits, as well as a comparison of released versus unreleased bolometers is shown. Demonstrated in this thesis is the monolithic integration of bolometers and readout circuitry. A micro-machined bolometer with a differential amplifier readout circuit was successfully integrated and demonstrated.