I-Corps: Assessing the Commercial Potential of an Advanced Oxide Material for Infrared Detection

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

This I-Corps project will further develop an advanced oxide material for infrared detection. Two technologies dominate the current market for infrared detectors and thermal imagers: semiconductor-based detectors convert incident infrared light into charge carriers, which are then amplified into an electronic signal, while microbolometers directly transform heat into an electronic signal using a heat-sensitive property (usually resistance). In both cases, the read-out circuitry for today's infrared array detectors simply does not scale beyond 1-2 megapixels due to the need for multiple electric leads at each array element. The research team has developed a technology that uses a different approach to infrared detection. Rather than converting infrared photons to carriers, the technology exploits changes in optical properties of an oxide thin film that occur as the material undergoes a thermally-induced phase transition. Conceptually, the technology would enable the replacement of the complicated and expensive read-out circuitry on the back of today's thermal imagers with what is essentially a filter that allows a cheap high-resolution camera to "see" infrared/thermal radiation. The team believes this technology will enable resolutions of over 10 megapixels, more than 10x the state-of-the-art for commercially available uncooled thermal imagers. The current market for infrared sensors is poised for dramatic growth in areas such as surveillance, transportation, industrial monitoring, energy, and health care. Existing thermal imaging devices are based on unwieldy technologies that have difficulty scaling to resolutions greater than 1-2 megapixels. Thus, advances in imaging processing that have been enabled by high-resolution optical devices cannot be applied to the infrared realm. The technology will address the unmet need of high-resolution thermal imaging by exploiting technological innovations in optical materials to develop a revolutionary product: a high-sensitivity, ultra-high-resolution infrared detector. The team believes the technology could have impact in a wide set of application areas, thus the potential for broad economic and societal impact is high.