Microbolometer technology is the fundamental technology for developing miniature and cost-effective thermal imaging systems. They are basically thermally isolated bridges with embedded temperature sensitive electrical components. When the microbolometer absorps infrared power, the thermally isolated bridge’s temperature rises slightly, and the readout electronics beneath the microbolometer senses this temperature change and converts it to electrical signal.
The most important advantage of the microbolometers is that, they can operate at room temperature. So the thermal cameras utilizing microbolometer type detectors can be very small and lightweight.
Microbolometer technology has different areas of applications in commercial and military markets. These applications enable temperature measurement, visibility in darkness, security surveillance, fire-fighting, night-time navigation, and heat and moisture leakage detection.