Thermoelectric bolometers based on ultra-thin heavily doped single-crystal silicon membranes

Abstract

We present ultra-thin silicon membrane thermocouple bolometers suitable for fast and sensitive detection of low levels of thermal power and infrared radiation at room temperature. The devices are based on 40 nm-thick strain tuned single crystalline silicon membranes shaped into heater/absorber area and narrow n- and p-doped beams, which operate as the thermocouple. The electro-thermal characterization of the devices reveal noise equivalent power of 13 pW/rtHz and thermal time constant of 2.5 ms. The high sensitivity of the devices is due to the high Seebeck coefficient of 0.39 mV/K and reduction of thermal conductivity of the Si beams from the bulk value. The bolometers operate in the Johnson-Nyquist noise limit of the thermocouple, and the performance improvement towards the operation close to the temperature fluctuation limit is discussed.

11 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Heat transport through atomic contacts

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Thermoelectric radiation detector based on superconductor/ferromagnet systems
• Nano-thermoelectric infrared bolometers
• Thermal transport and frequency response of localized modes on low-stress nanomechanical silicon nitride drums featuring a phononic bandgap structure
• Bipolar Thermoelectricity in Bilayer-Graphene--Superconductor Tunnel Junctions
• Thermoelectric radiation detector based on a superconductor-ferromagnet junction: calorimetric regime
• Advances in the optimization of silicon-based thermoelectrics: a theory perspective
• Infrared Bolometers Based on 40-nm-Thick Nano-Thermoelectric Silicon Membranes
• Enhanced thermoelectric effects in a driven one-dimensional system