Thermal Imaging. Coming to Your Life Anytime Soon?

Automobiles, televisions, mobile phones, microwave ovens, computers. What do these items have in common?

They once were affordable only for the rich, but thanks to mass production methods, can now be found in virtually every home.  Soon we maybe adding thermal imaging/night vision items to the list.

Thermal Imaging

Thermal imaging works in the absence of light since it uses heat radiation to map out the form of objects or living beings. Since virtually everything on the planet radiates heat, thermal imaging works anywhere. Up until now, expensive manufacturing has confined the technology to the military, researchers, and meteorologists, but recently Raytheon announced it has come up with a technique that drastically reduces cost.



Wafer Level Packaging

Raytheon, taking a cue from the process by which semiconductors are manufactured - with a number of computer chips built simultaneously and embedded in grid formation on batches of silicon wafers before ultimately being cut  into individual pieces -  is experimenting with wafer level packaging for thermal sensors.

What they have come up with is a similar technique of wafer level packaging that entails embedding thousands of tiny windows and thermal detectors, known collectively as microbolometers, on a flat surface.Each microbolometer measures 17 microns wide which is one-fifth the width of a human hair. Anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of microbolometers can go into a thermal sensor and each wafer can yield tens of thousands of sensors. So it's easy to see how converting from the old process of sensor assembly requiring 15 parts handled separately  to wafer level packaging, involving two, can speed up manufacturing while lowering its cost.

Thermal Imaging -  Coming to a Device Near You
Raytheon, for the most part, concentrates on the military sector. Using the old process, their Land Warfare Systems Group has supplied troops with over 40,000 thermal sensor weapon sights. With wafer packaging, it's possible to bring down the present costly price of manufacturing thermal sensors, and be able to provide  a lighter, less expensive sensor to every soldier who needs one.

Thermal Products of the Near Future? 
If  and when wafer management packaging can bring prices down to a viable price point who knows what commercial applications Raytheon's Vision Systems division will come up with.

Some car manufacturers currently offer the option of a heads up display that uses thermal sensors to detect deer or people in the road at night. Smaller chips could produce sensors that improve  image resolution   

Presently, cars use a motion or weight detector to turn on and adjust the airbag system. Might automotive engineers of the future  employ thermal imaging to sense whether the added weight is that of a person or a bag of dog food and employ the air bag accordingly?

Thermal imaging is already used in police work, but how about a sensor that pursuing officers could use to trace a fugitive's path using the heat radiated by his invisible foot steps?

How about enhancing flashlights with heat sensing detectors that would appeal to cave explorers, or even a pet owner, searching for a lost dog in the woods, or a cat hiding under the deck?


Yes, the future holds promise for commercial thermal heat sensors and Kintronics will keep an eye on all developing products. Meanwhile we are the source for IP camera systems of all types as well as thermal imaging camera systems. If you're interested in finding out more, just fill out an information request form or call 914-944-3425 to speak to a sales engineer.