Thermal detector comprising a thermal insulator of expanded polymer.

摘要

The invention relates to a thermal detector having a monolithic structure, comprising a layer of material sensitive to infrared radiation and an insulating layer constituted by a heat-stable polymer which can be deposited as a thin film and having a microporous structure. This insulating layer enables the sensitive layer to be thermally decoupled from the substrate which includes read circuits, with which the detector is equipped. The performance of present-day monolithic infrared detectors may thus be significantly enhanced by virtue of the appreciable reduction in thermal losses within the sensitive layer and this is due to the greatly reduced thermal conductivity of the layer of dielectric polymer. Application: infrared images.