Hybrid visible/NIR and LWIR sensor with resistive microbolometer

An image sensor, comprising:

• an array of pixels, at least one first pixel comprising:
• a resistive microbolometer sensor portion that outputs a first signal to a first floating diffusion, the first signal corresponding to an infrared (IR) image sensed by the resistive microbolometer sensor portion;
• and
• a visible image sensor portion that outputs a second signal to the first floating diffusion, the second signal corresponding to a visible image sensed by the visible image sensor portion of the first pixel;
• a second pixel comprising a visible image sensor portion that outputs a third signal to the first floating diffusion, the third signal corresponding to a visible image sensed by the visible image sensor portion of the second pixel;
• and
• an output path from the first floating diffusion that is shared by the resistive microbolometer sensor portion, the visible image sensor portion of the first pixel, and the visible image sensor portion of the second pixel, the output path being controlled to selectively output the first signal, the second signal, a signal corresponding to a fused image based on the IR image and the visible image of the first pixel, or the third signal.

A pixel for an image sensor, comprising:

• a first resistive microbolometer sensor portion that outputs a first signal to a first floating diffusion of the pixel, the first signal corresponding to an infrared (IR) image sensed by the first resistive microbolometer sensor portion;
• a first visible image sensor portion that outputs a second signal to the first floating diffusion of the pixel, the second signal corresponding to a visible image sensed by the first visible image sensor portion, and the first visible image sensor portion comprising a photodiode;
• and
• an output path from the first floating diffusion of the pixel that is shared by the first resistive microbolometer sensor portion and the first visible image sensor portion, the output path being controlled to selectively output the first signal, the second signal, or a fused image based on the IR image and the visible image of the pixel.