• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 2015

In this study, we analyzed and showed the enhanced thermal resolution of a lock-in infrared thermography system by employing a blackbody system and micro-register sample. The noise level or thermal resolution of an infrared camera system is usually expressed by a noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD), which is the mean square of the deviation of the different values measured for one pixel from its mean values obtained in successive measurements. However, for lock-in thermography, a more convenient quantity in the phase-independent temperature modulation amplitude can be acquired. On the basis of results, it was observed that the NETD or thermal resolution of the lock-in thermography system was significantly enhanced, which we consider to have been caused by the averaging and filtering effects of the lock-in technique.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2011

The passive open-path Fourier-Transform-Infrared system was implemented for the toxic gas monitoring. Noise Equivalent Differential Temperature(NEDT) was investigated as a system performance evaluation figure and analyzed numerically with the designed parameters. Calculated NEDT was compared with the experimental value in the wavelength region of $700{\sim}1400cm^{-1}^$. The minimum detectable gas concentration was estimated from the obtained NEDT at the absorption wavelength of $SF_6$.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.36-43
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• 2015

A pixel-level readout circuit is studied for 2-dimensional microbolometer focal plane arrays (FPAs). A current mirroring injection (CMI) input circuit with 2-step current-mode bias suppression is proposed for a pixel-level architecture with high responsivity and long integration time. The proposed circuit has been designed using a $0.35-{\mu}m$ 2-poly 4-metal CMOS process for a $320{\times}240$ microbolometer array with a pixel size of $50{\mu}m{\times}50{\mu}m$. The proposed 2-step bias-current suppression has sufficiently low calibration error with wide calibration range, and the calibration range and error can be easily optimized by controlling some design parameters. Due to high responsivity and a long integration time of more than 1 ms, the noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of the proposed circuit can be improved to 26 mK, which is much better than that of the conventional circuits, 67 mK.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2007

This paper describes the design technology for a third generation thermal imaging system, which is more compact than before, using a $320\times240$ mid-IR focal plane detector. The third generation non-scanning thermal imaging system was constructed as a compact thermal imaging module as a reconnaissance, surveillance and navigation sensor for helicopter and infantry vehicles in the $1980's\sim1990's$ and now, we designed a new compact infrared camera and studied a new type of non-uniformity correction lens fer this camera.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.557-564
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• 2017

The purpose of the thermal imaging observation device mounted on the K's tank in the Republic of Korea military is to convert infrared rays into visual information to provide information about the environment under conditions of restricted visibility. Among the various performance indicators of thermal observation devices, such as the view, magnification, resolution, MTF, NETD, and Minimum Resolvable Temperature Difference (MRTD), the MRTD is the most important, because it can indicate both the spatial frequency and temperature resolvable. However, the standard method of measuring the MRTD in NATO contains many subjective factors. As the measurement result can vary depending on subjective factors such as the human eye, metal condition and measurement conditions, the MRTD obtained is not stable. In this study, these qualitative MRTD measurement systems are converted into quantitative indicators based on a gray scale using imaging processing. By converting the average of the gray scale differences of the black and white images into the MRTD, the mean values can be used to determine whether the performance requirements required by the defense specification are met. The (mean) value can also be used to discriminate between detection, recognition and identification and the detectable distance of the thermal equipment can be analyzed under various environmental conditions, such as altostratus, heavy rain and fog.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.80-86
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• 2014

A low-noise readout circuit is studied for 2-D capacitive microbolometer focal plane arrays (FPAs). In spite of the merits of the integration method, a simple and effective pixelwise readout circuit without integration is used for input circuit because of a small pixel size and narrow noise bandwidth. To reduce the power consumption and the kT/C noise, which is the dominant noise of the capacitive microbolometer FPAs with small capacitance, a new correlated double sampling (CDS) is used for columnwise circuit. The proposed circuit has been designed using a $0.35-{\mu}m$ 2-poly 4-metal CMOS process for a microbolometer array with a pixel size of $50{\mu}m{\times}50{\mu}m$. The proposed circuit effectively reduces the kT/C noise and the other low-frequency noise of microbolometer, and the noise characteristics of the fabricated chip have been verified by measurements. The rms noise voltage of the proposed circuit is reduced from 30 % to 55 % compared to that of the simple readout input circuit, and the noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of the proposed circuit is very low value of 21.5 mK.