Schottky IRCCD Thermal Imaging

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the schottky IRCCD thermal imaging. Schottky barrier infrared detectors offer the possibility for production of highly uniform, monolithic silicon IRCCD focal plane arrays. The advantages of the Schottky IRCCDs are: (1) Monolithic silicon construction with standard IC processing;(2) High uniformity limited only by the geometric definition of the detectors; (3) High detector densities possible; (4) Modest cooling requirements; (5) No optical crosstalk; and (6) Staring mode of operating. With new designs and processing improvements, Schottky IRCCDs with higher density are capable of temperature discrimination in the range of 0.1 to 0.2°C above ambient are anticipated. Such IRCCD sensors, with resolution approaching that of commercial television are expected to have applications in IR surveillance, reliability studies, and medical diagnostics.