About the dynamic characterization of micro-bolometric infrared cameras

This work describes two methods for the dynamic characterization of a microbolometer infrared camera. The time constant, parameter commonly used for microbolometers dynamic performance identification, has been addressed in literature with studies mainly focused on theoretical computation and only seldom supported by testing activity. In this paper, alternative methods for the dynamic characterization of infrared sensors are presented and related uncertainty budgets are assessed. The infrared camera NEC TH7102WX has been tested with the proposed methods and results have been compared. The microbolometer behavior has proved to strongly deviate from the common first order model so that the time constant is no more a characterizing parameter. Depending on the definition of "equivalent time constants", the measured parameters changed by more than 50%, with values ranging between 30 and 50 ms.