Integrated Circuits and Materials

Most IR thermography systems use one of two types of detectors:
         i) indium antimonide (InSb) detectors, which are sensitive in the wavelength range 1.5 µm to 5.5 µm. Cooled InSb photovoltaics are perhaps the most common detectors for IR thermography.
         ii) mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) detectors, which are sensitive over the range of 8 µm to 12 µm.

Figure 4907a. Detected wavelengths of OBIRCH, PEM, and LIT measurements. [1]

InSb photoelectromagnetic (PEM) detectors offer excellent performance in the 5–7 μm interval when they are operated at room temperature. The detectivities of InSb photoconductors as functions of wavelength, with modulation frequency as an independent parameter is shown in Figure 4907b. The sensitivity peak of wavelength is between 5.3 and 6.0 μm.

[1] Paul Hubert P. Llamera and Camille Joyce G. Garcia-Awitan, Thermal Failure Analysis of Functional Failures by IR Lock-in Thermal Emission, ISTFA™ 2019: Conference Proceedings from the 45th, (2019).
[2] Kruse, P. W., Semiconductors and Semimetals, Academic Press, New York, Vol. 5, 15–83, 1970.