FPN Modeling and Model-Based Correction for Shutter-Less Uncooled Bolometric Imagers

Abstract

This article establishes a behavior model for analyzing the temperature-dependent fixed pattern noise (TD-FPN) induced by pixel passive and active resistance for uncooled bolometric thermal imagers. A model-based two-point correction method is also proposed to compensate for the TD-FPN by using the ratio of passive and active resistance. An infrared imaging system based on a <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$640\times512$ </tex-math></inline-formula> readout chip is implemented to verify the proposed model and the model-based correction method. The comparison between the simulation and measurement results shows the model’s accuracy. The residuals after the model-based correction are within ±25 LSBs, which is considerably lower than the traditional method’s residuals. Due to the low residuals, the spatial noise equivalent temperature difference (S-NETD) is less than 100 mK within the temperature range of [−40 °C to 80 °C]. The proposed model and the correction method enable uncooled bolometric thermal imagers to achieve low-cost and wide-temperature-range shutter-less operation.