Institut national d’optique - INO

The INO microfabrication team has designed and developed a new gold black deposition system. With this new system, we now offer cutting edge gold black coating services to customers looking to increase the performance of their broadband detectors.

One of the main advantages of INO gold black is its lower thermal mass and conductance compared to other coatings like paints, electrochemical coatings, metal and carbon coatings, resulting in excellent optical absorption with rapid thermal response.

DEPOSITION SERVICE

System Characteristics

• Surface to treat: flat (no circular 3D devices)
• Sample holder dimensions: 4 cm x 4 cm
• Sample holder designed for your application
• Customizable main parameters (e.g., temperature and pressure level)

Nominal Specifications

• Thickness: 25 µm
• Optical Absorption > 95% from 0.2 µm to 40 µm
• Optical Absorption > 90% from 40 µm to 100 µm
• Density: 0.3% of bulk gold
• Compatible with environmental requirements for space and military applications (vibration, shock, and thermal cycling)

Applications

• The new gold black deposition service is applicable to bolometers, pyroelectric and thermoelectric detectors, and other similar devices.


RESULTS

DETECTOR INTEGRATION

• Integration with microbolometer detectors demonstrated for ESA’s EarthCARE Satellite
• 30x1 detector broadband FPA integrated with off-the-shelf ROIC
• Uniform spectral response between 0.2 µm and 50 µm
• Detector thermal capacity increased by less than 50%
• Compatible with laser micromachining process for pixel definition
• Blackened pixel fill factor higher than 90%



Other thin film deposition services

This new deposition service completes the other thin film deposition services available at INO. More information on these other thin film coating is provided in the microfabrication section.