ABSTRACT
At present, vanadium oxide and amorphous silicon (a-Si) microbolometers are technologies of choice for uncooled thermal imaging. However, their sensitivity limitations [1] and the still signicant prices encouraged many research teams to explore other IR sensing techniques with the potential for improved performance with reduced detector costs. Recently, thermal-imaging modules for less than $1000 are produced [2]. It means a 10-fold reduction in costs, compared with the approximate price for current IR imaging systems (see Table 8.1) [3].
