KR101842251B1 - Bolometer based infrared sensor and manufacturing method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A bolometer-based infrared sensor capable of lowering manufacturing costs and enhancing user convenience, and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. A bolometer-based infrared sensor includes a metal stem, at least one bolometer disposed on the metal stem, a drive circuit or correction circuit disposed on the metal stem and connected to the at least one bolometer, an internal vacuum between the metal stem A cap for accommodating a drive circuit or correction circuit and at least one bolometer in the space, and a window, a lens or a combination thereof arranged at least in part of the cap so that infrared rays outside the cap penetrate the cap and reach the bolometer.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a bolometer-based infrared sensor and a manufacturing method thereof,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an infrared sensor, and more particularly, to a bolometer-based infrared sensor and a manufacturing method thereof.

Infrared sensors can be classified into cooling type and uncooled type according to the operating principle. The cooling type refers to a method of obtaining an electrical signal generated by an interaction between an infrared photon and an electron in a material, and an uncooled type refers to a method of detecting a temperature change generated by infrared rays absorbed by a material. The cooling type is mainly manufactured by using a semiconductor material, and has advantages of low noise and quick response, but it has disadvantage that it operates at liquid nitrogen temperature (-193 ° C.). On the other hand, the uncooled type is advantageous in that it operates at room temperature although the performance is slightly lower than that of the cooling type. Therefore, cooling type is mainly studied for military purpose purpose, and uncooled type is mainly studied for civil use.

Uncooled infrared sensors can be divided into three types: bolometer, thermocouple, and pyroelectric. A supercapacitor has good detectivity but limited production volume. Bolometer and thermocouple are less detectable than supercapacitors, but can be manufactured monolithically on silicon wafers with detector circuitry, which is good productivity. Among them, a bolometer-type infrared sensor is used for various purposes for an infrared ray-emitting target by detecting an infrared ray by utilizing the fact that the electric resistance is changed by absorbing infrared rays radiated from an object and converted into thermal energy by the temperature rise .

On the other hand, the bolometer, which is a sensor for sensing the target based on the resistance change by the irradiated infrared rays, is vacuum-packaged so as to reliably operate without being affected by the ambient temperature change. Thus, the array of bolometer sensors on a single chip is typically vacuum packaged individually on a single chip. However, there are many problems that the device is damaged by high temperature and high heat exceeding 200 캜 in vacuum packaging, and the yield is poor.

Korean Patent No. 10-0314028 (October 25, 2010)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel bolometer-based infrared sensor capable of increasing manufacturing easiness and reducing manufacturing cost by increasing the yield, and a manufacturing method thereof .

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a metal stamper comprising: a metal stem; At least one bolometer disposed on the metal stem; A drive circuit or correction circuit disposed on the metal stem and connected to the at least one bolometer; A cap for accommodating the driving circuit or the correction circuit and the at least one bolometer in an internal vacuum space between the metal stem and the cap; And a window, a lens, or a combination thereof, disposed in at least a portion of the cap such that infrared rays outside the cap penetrate the cap and reach the sensor chip.

In one embodiment, the bolometer-based infrared sensor further includes a weld disposed at the interface between the metal stem and the cap.

In one embodiment, the cap is a metal cap, and the window may comprise a germanium or silicon window.

In one embodiment, the at least one bolometer may comprise a plurality of bolometers in a cross arrangement or a 3x3 matrix arrangement. In addition, the driving circuit or correction circuit may include a main control unit connected to the plurality of bolometers, an analog-to-digital converter, or a combination thereof. The driving circuit or the correction circuit may be provided in the form of an integrated circuit (IC).

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a bolometer-based infrared sensor, comprising: forming a window or a lens in an opening of a cap; Preparing a metal stem corresponding to the cap; Arranging at least one bolometer on the metal stem; Arranging a driving circuit or a correction circuit connected to the at least one bolometer on the metal stem; And bonding or welding the cap on the metal stem to form a vacuum space on the metal stem and to place the drive circuit or the correction circuit and the one or more bolometers in the vacuum space. Is provided.

In one embodiment, the drive circuit or correction circuitry may include a main control unit, an analog to digital converter, or a combination thereof coupled to the plurality of bolometers. Here, the plurality of bolometers correspond to the at least one bolometer, and may include a cross arrangement or a 3x3 matrix arrangement.

In one embodiment, the metal stem may have a plurality of lead pins extending outwardly in the internal vacuum space.

According to the present invention, it is possible to simplify the manufacturing process by omitting the individual vacuum packaging on a chip basis, to increase the product yield and to reduce the manufacturing cost, and thereby to provide the product at a lower price than the comparable infrared sensor product based on the bolometer have.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the chip from being damaged due to high temperature and high heat in the vacuum packaging of the chip unit, and thus it is possible to obtain a considerably high yield relative to the conventional yield of about 50%.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bolometer-based infrared sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a plan view showing the structure of the chip level of the infrared sensor of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another arrangement of the bolometers in the bolometer sensor chip of FIG. 2. FIG.
Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram for explaining the operation principle of one bolometer in the infrared sensor of Fig. 1. Fig.
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing the bolometer-based infrared sensor of FIG. 1;
6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bolometer-based infrared sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional view showing an infrared sensor according to a comparative example.
8 is a view showing an infrared sensor according to another comparative example.
9 is a view showing the size of the infrared sensor of FIG. 8 in comparison with a button.
10 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a structure used in a three-axis motion detection apparatus as an infrared ray sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the infrared sensor of Fig.
12 is a view showing the structure of another infrared sensor of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing.

The terms first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component. And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bolometer-based infrared sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a bolometer-based infrared sensor 10 according to the present embodiment includes a stem 11, a sensor chip 121 including at least one bolometer, a driving circuit 122, and a cap 13 do. Here, the sensor chip 121 and the driving circuit 122 in a bolometer-based infrared sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as an infrared sensor) 10 are disposed on the stem 11 with a separate base substrate 120 disposed thereon The drawings are merely illustrative, and the present invention is not limited to such an arrangement. The circuit board 120 can be used to arbitrarily design the height or placement of the sensor chip 121 and the drive circuit 122 as integral protrusions on the stem 11. In this case, either or both of the sensor chip 121 and the driving circuit 122 may be disposed directly on the upper surface of the stem 11. Of course, it is also possible to omit the base substrate 120 itself.

The stem 11 is for airtightly pulling out lead wires, lead pins or lead electrode terminals 112 extending from the internal space of the infrared sensor 10, 13 and the cap 13 in order to form an internal vacuum space therebetween.

For example, the stem 11 may be a metal stem whose body and upper surface are mostly made of a metal material. In this case, the cap 13 may be a metal cap, most of which is made of metal except for the opening.

It should be noted that, depending on the implementation, the stem 11 need not be substantially the entire body or most of the metal, and similarly, the cap 13 may also be substantially the entire body or most of the metal need not be a metal, Only the parts where the caps 13 are in contact with each other can be realized by a metal material which can be easily and hermetically bonded by welding or the like. In this embodiment, this case will also be referred to as a metal stem.

The sensor chip 121 has at least one bolometer. The resistance materials used in the bolometer are characterized by high temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR), low resistivity, integration with integrated circuit (IC) process, low cost and simplification of manufacturing process, Is required. As the resistance material, a metal such as titanium (Ti), amorphous silicon (a-Si), vanadium oxide (VOx) which is one kind of metal oxide film, an oxide resistance thin film and the like can be used.

The sensor chip 121 may be implemented to include a substrate on which a signal processing circuit is formed, an oxide resistance thin film disposed apart from the substrate, and a support member for electrically connecting and supporting the substrate and the oxide resistance thin film . According to this structure, the oxide-resistant thin film can be weakly thermally coupled with the temperature sensor circuit on the substrate through the supporting member. A contact attachment portion may be provided at a contact portion between the oxide-resistant thin film and the supporting member or a contact portion between the conductive layer or the wiring coupled to the support member to increase the electrical contact between the different members.

Also, depending on the implementation, the sensor chip 121 may further include an infrared ray reflective layer disposed between the substrate and the oxide resistive thin film. Further, it may be implemented so as to further include an infrared reflection preventing layer on the oxide resistive thin film according to the implementation.

In the sensor chip 121 described above, the substrate may function as a base plate on which one or more bolometer cells are mounted. The substrate may function as a heat sink for the bolometer cell. That is, the substrate may be provided with a sensor circuit or a signal processing circuit which changes in temperature with a change in heat capacity proportional to the infrared energy and exhibits a predetermined temperature difference with the infrared absorber.

In the sensor chip 121, each of the bolometer cells is a radiation detector that measures a change in electric resistance caused by a temperature change due to infrared radiation by using a material having a large temperature coefficient of resistance. Such a bolometer cell can be implemented with an indium antimony bolometer, a service tool bolometer, a superconducting bolometer, a carbon bolometer, a germanium bolometer, etc., depending on the material used.

In addition, in the sensor chip 121, the supporting member is for increasing the resolution or accuracy of the oxide thin film which is an infrared ray absorbing member, and may be omitted depending on the implementation. In this case, it is also possible to omit the infrared reflecting layer. The structure in which the supporting member is omitted is referred to as a single layer structure, and the non-omitted structure may be referred to as a double layer structure.

The driving circuit 122 has an IC shape and can be disposed on the stem 11. [ The driving circuit 122 may be connected to the sensor chip 121 through a wire 123 or the like to sense a voltage change due to a change in resistance of at least one bolometer of the sensor chip 121. The driving circuit 122 may include a correction circuit in accordance with an implementation, which may be referred to as a correction circuit in that case.

The sensor chip 121 and the driving circuit 122 may be disposed directly on the upper surface of the stem 11. Of course, depending on the implementation, the sensor chip 121 and the drive circuit 122 may be disposed on the upper surface of the stem 11 in a form of a module (sensor module) in a single printed circuit board or base substrate 120 . In this case, the sensor chip 121 and / or the driving circuit 122 may be electrically connected to the extraction electrode terminal 112 of the stem 11 through the conductive pattern of the base substrate 120. Of course, depending on the implementation, the sensor chip 121 and / or the driver circuit 122 may be directly mounted on the step 11, and the insulation therebetween may be implemented by the sensor chip 121 and / (Insulating layer) can be used.

The extraction electrode terminal 112 may be electrically connected to the sensor chip 121 and / or the driving circuit 122 through the body of the stem 11. The lead-out electrode terminal 112 may be in the form of a lead pin structure inserted into the through-hole of the stem 11 or in the form of an external fin. At least some of the plurality of outgoing electrode terminals 112 may include pins for a power supply voltage (Vcc, GND), and pins for a voltage output (Vout).

The cap 13 engages the stem 11 to cover and seal together the sensor chip 121 and the drive circuit 122 disposed on the upper surface of the stem 11. The body of the cap 13 may be made of a metallic material, but is not limited thereto. When the cap 13 and the stem 11 include a metallic material at least at portions where they are in contact with each other, a joint may be formed between the cap 13 and the stem 11 or at the boundary therebetween. The joining portion may include a weld portion which melts or semi-melts the two separated members.

The cap 13 also has a window 14 made of a material that transmits infrared light. The window 14 may be arranged in a structure in which an opening is formed on the upper surface side of the cap 13 having a concave container inverted form and the opening is covered.

The window 14 may be arranged at a position facing the bolometer cell so that the transmitted infrared rays may properly reach the bolometer cell of the sensor chip 121. [ The window 14 may be formed using a material of a germanium (Ge) material capable of transmitting an infrared wavelength region of 700 to 1050 nm.

In addition, the window 14 may have an infrared anti-reflective coating on its surface. The infrared ray anti-reflective coating layer corresponds to the infrared ray anti-reflective layer mentioned in the sensor chip 121, and has a transmittance of 90% or more in the infrared wavelength region and has a field of view (FOV) . A bolometer with this window 14 may have an infrared sensing range up to a range of about 300 cm, but is not limited thereto.

The internal space on the stem 11 formed by the cap 13 can be sealed so as to have airtightness so that the gas pressure does not fluctuate for years. The internal vacuum space may be filled with a gas having a relatively low thermal conductivity such as krypton or xenon depending on the implementation.

According to this embodiment, in order to secure predetermined reliability and performance, it is possible to omit the process of attaching the circuit patterns and the individual vacuum caps to the respective semiconductor chips corresponding to the existing bolometer cells. That is, according to the structure of the infrared sensor according to the present embodiment, by sealing at least one of the at least one bolometer cell and the driving circuit with a single cap, the vacuum cap for the individual bolometer cells can be omitted to simplify the manufacturing process and reduce costs. An infrared sensor can be provided.

2 is a partial plan view of the sensor module portion of the infrared sensor of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the sensor module 12 of the infrared sensor according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of bolometer cells BS and a driving circuit 122 of the sensor chip 121. In addition, the sensor module 12 of the present embodiment includes a correction circuit 122a. Of course, as mentioned above, the base substrate 120 may be omitted depending on the implementation, in which case the sensor chip 121, the driver circuit 122 and the correction circuit 122a may be placed directly on the stem.

The plurality of bolometer cells BS in this embodiment includes a 3x3 array. The plurality of bolometer cells BS are configured such that at least three or more of the bolometer cells are arranged in order to extend in the first direction on the substrate (the horizontally arranged structure) and the other at least three bolometer cells are arranged in the second direction (Vertically arranged structure) that is arranged in order to extend to the first side surface The array structure of the plurality of the bolometer cells may include adjacent bolometer cells arranged at equal intervals therebetween, or spaced apart at a certain rate of increase or decrease.

Of course, depending on the implementation, it is also possible that a plurality of the bolometer cells of each of the transverse array structure and / or the vertical array structure are arranged substantially close to each other without any gap between adjacent two cells or may share at least one support member .

3 is a plan view showing another arrangement structure of the bolometer cells in the sensor chip of the infrared sensor of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the sensor chip 121 according to the present embodiment, the bolometer cells BS have a cruciform arrangement. Such a cruciform array structure is for realizing a sensor having a planar structure using the minimum number of cells as mentioned above.

The five bolometer cells BS may include a transversely arranged structure in the first direction and a vertically arranged structure orthogonal to the first direction.

4 is a circuit diagram for explaining an operation method for the bolometer of the infrared sensor of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4, the infrared sensor according to the present embodiment senses infrared rays using a bolometer cell BS. For this purpose, the infrared sensor may include a circuit in which the resistance value of the active resistance Ra is changed by the infrared rays irradiated through the window 14. [ For example, the infrared sensor may include a series circuit of a reference resistor Rf and an active resistor Ra connected in series at both ends of the input voltage Vin. At this time, the infrared sensor senses the change of the output (Vout) connected to the midpoint or connection point of the series circuit of the two resistors through a voltage sensing circuit (not shown), and calculates the infrared ray amount irradiated to the bolometer cell Can be calculated.

The above-described circuit is an example, and the present invention is not limited to such a circuit, and it goes without saying that various circuits applicable to the bolometer can be implemented.

5 is a schematic view of a method of manufacturing a bolometer-based infrared sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the manufacturing method of the bolometer-based infrared sensor according to the present embodiment simplifies the manufacturing process and increases the product yield. To this end, the infrared sensor manufacturing method of this embodiment may include three major steps.

First, the stem 11, the sensor chip 121, the drive circuit 122, and the cap 13 are prepared. The stem 11 may be prepared as a metal stem having a lead-out electrode terminal 112. The sensor chip 121 may be manufactured by an integrated circuit process so as to have a plurality of the bolometer cells. The driving circuit 122 may be implemented to include a voltage sensing circuit, an output circuit, and the like by an integrated circuit process. The sensor chip 121 and the driving circuit 122 are mounted on the stem 11 and can be prepared to be connected by a wire 123 or the like. In one embodiment, the combination of sensor chip 121, driver circuit 122, and base substrate 120 may be referred to as sensor module 12. Although the present embodiment is described as including the base substrate 120 for the sake of explanation, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the base substrate 120 may be omitted. The cap 13 of the present embodiment can be prepared by attaching the window 14 to the opening of the conventional cap having a predetermined size.

Next, the sensor module 12 is disposed on the upper surface of the stem 11. Disposing the sensor module 12 may include an electrical connection between the withdrawing electrode terminal 112 of the stem 11 and the sensor module 12. [ As described above, the sensor chip 121 and the driving circuit 122 may be disposed directly on the upper surface of the stem 11 in the case where the base substrate 120 is omitted. Although the sensor chip 121 and the driving circuit 122 are disposed on different substrates in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to such a structure, and the sensor chip 121 And a driving circuit 122, as shown in FIG.

Finally, the concave portion of the cap 13 is arranged to face the upper surface of the stem 11 so as to cover the sensor module 12, and the edge of the cap 13 is bonded to the upper surface of the stem 11 . A welding method may be used for joining the cap 13. In this case, a joint portion or a welded portion 15 may be disposed on the lower side edge of the cap 13, which is in contact with the upper surface of the stem 11. A method of vacuum forming the internal space of the cap 13 located above the stem 11 while bonding the cap 13 to the upper surface of the stem 11 is well known in the art, do.

When the cap 13 is attached to the stem 11, each window 14 is embodied as an infrared lens. That is, the window 14 can be arranged such that the infrared rays transmitted therethrough are accurately projected on the sensor chip. Infrared lenses can be implemented using spherical or aspheric plano-convex lenses.

On the other hand, the window 14 may be implemented as a filter plate in addition to an infrared lens, depending on the implementation. The present embodiment is described as being integrally formed with the window 14 on the upper surface of the cap 13 but is not limited thereto and may be disposed inside the opening of the cap 13 to close the opening of the cap 13. [ When the window 14 is disposed inside the opening, the window 14 can be more closely adhered to the upper surface opening of the cap 13 by the pressure inside the cap 13, so that the airtightness at the opening can be increased. In addition, the space between the stem 11 and the cap 13 may include an element or material for preventing reflection or scattering of light. The inner space may be formed by vacuum sealing or gas sealing.

According to the present embodiment, the bolometer cells on the sensor chip are separated from the electrode pads and the drive circuit, and the bolometer cells and the drive circuit are sealed together without sealing the caps. Thus, by omitting individual vacuum packaging on a chip-by-chip basis, the manufacturing process can be simplified, product yield can be increased, manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the product can be provided at a lower cost than comparable infrared sensor products based on a bolometer. In addition, it is possible to prevent chips from being damaged due to high temperature and high heat during chip-based vacuum packaging, and thus it is possible to obtain a considerably high yield relative to the conventional yield of about 50%.

6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a bolometer-based infrared sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6, the bolometer-based infrared sensor 10A according to the present embodiment includes a stem 11 having a lead-out electrode terminal 112, three sensor chips (not shown) disposed on the upper surface of the stem 11, A driving circuit 122 connected to the sensor chips and a correction circuit 122a and a cap 13 connected to the upper surface of the stem 11 and having a window 14, (13). ≪ IMAGE >

The infrared sensor 10A of the present embodiment includes a plurality of sensor chips 121 and a plurality of sensor chips 121 and a plurality of integrated circuits are disposed directly on the upper surface of the stem 11 Substantially the same as the infrared sensor 10 of the above-described embodiments).

The present invention is not limited to such a configuration and may be applied to a case where a plurality of sensor chips 121 are irradiated with infrared rays from outside And may be implemented to include a plurality of windows arranged in a divided manner.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing an infrared sensor according to a comparative example.

Referring to Fig. 7, the infrared sensor of the comparative example has a structure not made according to the manufacturing method of this embodiment. That is, in the infrared sensor of the comparative example, a plurality of sensor chips (chip1, chip2, chip3) are disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB), and each sensor chip has a plurality of bolometer arrays BA1, BA2, BA3, Which is independently vacuum-packaged by means of a vacuum pump.

In other words, the first sensor chip chip1 includes a first bolometer array BA1 disposed in a first region on the base substrate, a cap 13p having a window 14 and vacuum-packaging the first bolometer array BA1, And an electrode pad Bp disposed outside the cap 13p in a second region on the base substrate and connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like through a wire 123 or the like. A welding portion 15 is disposed between the base substrate and the cap 13p. Of course, if the base substrate is omitted, the welded portion 15 is disposed between the cap 13p and the printed circuit board (PCB).

Similarly, the second sensor chip (chip2) and the third sensor chip (chip3) are arranged. That is, the third sensor chip Chip1 includes a third bolometer array BA3 disposed in the first region on the base substrate, a cap 13p having the window 14 and vacuum-packaging the third bolometer array BA3, An electrode pad Bp disposed outside the cap 13p in the second region on the base substrate and a weld 15 disposed at the boundary between the cap 13p and the base substrate.

According to the comparative example, each of the bolometer arrays BA1, BA2 and BA3 of the sensor chips (chip1, chip2, chip3) in the infrared sensor is individually vacuum-packed by the respective vacuum caps 13p. That is, the bolometer array of each sensor chip is vacuum-packaged by a vacuum cap 13p bonded to the upper part of each sensor chip. Since the size of the infrared sensor is very small (see FIGS. 8 and 9), it is expensive to handle the sensor, the process variation is large, the thickness of the sensor chip itself must be at least 1 mm, There is a disadvantage in that not only a separate outer package housing is required but also the mounting force between the drive circuit and the main control unit is weakened.

8 is a view showing an infrared sensor according to another comparative example. 9 is a view showing the size of the infrared sensor of FIG. 8 in comparison with a button.

8 and 9, the infrared sensor of this comparative example has a single sensor chip, a single sensor chip is disposed on the metal stem 11p, and the electrode pad of the sensor chip and the lead- 7 is substantially the same as the infrared sensor of Fig.

In the infrared sensor of this comparative example, the cap 13p vacuum-packages only the first region of the sensor chip on which the bolometer array is disposed, and does not vacuum-package the second region of the sensor chip on which the electrode pad or the driving circuit is disposed. When the infrared sensor of this comparative example is changed according to the infrared sensor manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the cap 13p is removed, and a new cap (see 13 in Fig. 1) is arranged so as to cover most of the upper side front face of the stem 11p .

As described above, in the case of a single sensor chip, only the volume of the cap is increased compared to the comparative example (although such a structure is completely different from the comparative example), a plurality of sensor chips according to this embodiment The structure of the infrared sensor including the infrared sensor has a merit that it is possible to simplify the vacuum packaging process in the manufacturing process, and furthermore, the yield of the infrared sensor can be greatly increased through such a manufacturing process.

As described above, in this embodiment, in order to solve the disadvantage of the comparative example, the individual vacuum caps of the single sensor chip having the bolometer array are omitted, and at least one sensor chip, the electrode pad and / or the driving circuit are vacuum- The present invention provides a structure in which a plurality of sensor chips are vacuum packaged into a single cap, thereby achieving cost reduction while ensuring the detection performance of an infrared sensor using a plurality of bolometers, and providing a product at a lower price than the comparative example have.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

Claims (6)

Metal stem;
A plurality of sensor chips directly disposed on the metal stem;
At least one bolometer provided in each of the plurality of sensor chips;
A drive circuit disposed directly on the metal stem and connected to the at least one bolometer;
A correction circuit disposed directly on the metal stem and connected to the plurality of sensor chips;
A cap connected to an upper surface of the metal stem to receive the driving circuit, the correction circuit, and the plurality of sensor chips in an internal vacuum space between the metal stem and the cap; And
And a window, a lens, or a combination thereof disposed at at least a portion of the cap such that infrared rays outside the cap penetrate the cap to reach the plurality of sensor chips,
Wherein the window is divided into a plurality of windows so that the infrared rays are emitted to the plurality of sensor chips. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a weld disposed at a boundary between the metal stem and the cap,
Wherein the driving circuit, the correction circuit and the plurality of sensor chips are arranged in a module form on a single printed circuit board or a base substrate and disposed on the upper surface of the metal stem,
Wherein the single printed circuit board or base substrate operates as a heat sink of the at least one bolometer of the plurality of sensor chips. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising an infrared reflection preventing layer disposed on the window,
Wherein the cap is a metal cap and the window comprises a germanium or silicon window. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the at least one bolometer of each of the plurality of sensor chips comprises a plurality of bolometers in a cross arrangement or a 3x3 matrix arrangement,
Wherein the driving circuit or correction circuit comprises a main control unit, an analog-to-digital converter, or a combination thereof, connected to the plurality of bolometers. A method of manufacturing a bolometer-based infrared sensor,
Forming a plurality of windows or lenses in the divided apertures of the cap;
Preparing a metal stem having an extraction electrode terminal;
Preparing a plurality of sensor chips each having at least one or more bolometer cells;
Arranging the plurality of sensor chips directly on the metal stem;
Arranging a driving circuit and a correction circuit directly on the metal stem so as to be electrically connected to the extraction electrode terminal;
Coupling the driving circuit with the at least one bolometer and coupling the plurality of sensor chips with the correction circuit; And
Forming a vacuum space on the metal stem and joining or welding the cap on the metal stem such that the driving circuit, the correction circuit and the plurality of sensor chips are disposed in the vacuum space,
Wherein the plurality of windows are divided and disposed at a position facing the at least one bolometer so that the infrared rays are irradiated to the at least one bolometer of the plurality of sensor chips. Way. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the at least one bolometer comprises a plurality of bolometers in a cross arrangement or a 3x3 matrix arrangement.

Images