Frequency modulation based IR sensing and imaging and related methods
AssigneeUniversity of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsDebashis Chanda, Sayan Chandra, Tianyi Guo
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Abstract
An IR sensor comprises a substrate, a rear reflector on the substrate, a supporting layer a PCM layer carried by the supporting layer, and first and second electrically conductive contacts carried by the substrate and coupled to opposing sides of the PCM layer. The IR sensor also includes a circuit coupled to the first and second electrically conductive contacts and configured to apply an electrical bias signal to the PCM layer to generate an electrical oscillation, and detect the frequency modulation (FM) of the oscillation signal based upon IR radiation received by the PCM layer.
Claims20
An infrared (IR) sensor comprising:
- a substrate;
- a rear reflector on the substrate;
- a support layer carried by the substrate;
- a phase change material (PCM) layer carried by the support layer, the rear reflector being spaced apart from the PCM layer, the PCM layer and the rear reflector defining an optical cavity therebetween;
- first and second electrically conductive contacts carried by the substrate and coupled to opposing sides of the PCM layer;
- and
- a circuit coupled to the first and second electrically conductive contacts and configured to
- apply an electrical bias signal to the PCM layer to cause an oscillation signal to be generated within the PCM layer, and
- detect frequency changes in the oscillation signal based upon IR radiation received by the PCM layer.
A method for operating an infrared (IR) sensor comprising a substrate, a support layer carried by the substrate, a phase change material (PCM) layer carried by the support layer, a rear reflector on the substrate and being spaced apart from the PCM layer, the PCM layer and the rear reflector defining an optical cavity therebetween, and first and second electrically conductive contacts carried by the substrate and coupled to opposing sides of the PCM layer, the method comprising:
- applying an electrical bias signal to the first and second electrically conductive contacts of the PCM layer to cause an oscillation signal to be generated within the PCM layer;
- and
- detecting frequency changes in the oscillation signal based upon IR radiation received by the PCM layer.
A method for making an infrared (IR) sensor comprising:
- forming a rear reflector on a substrate, the forming of the rear reflector comprising a deposition of metallic material on the substrate;
- forming a support layer on the substrate;
- forming a phase change material (PCM) layer on the support layer;
- forming first and second electrically conductive contacts on the substrate and coupled to opposing sides of the PCM layer;
- and
- coupling a circuit coupled to the first and second electrically conductive contacts, the circuit configured to
- apply an electrical bias signal to the PCM layer to cause an oscillation signal to be generated within the PCM layer, and
- detect frequency changes in the oscillation signal based upon IR radiation received by the PCM layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.