Master of Technology: Mechanical Engineering
in the Faculty of Engineering
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Supervisor:Prof Philander Oscar
Bellville Campus
Date of submission: April 2013 / The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy (AMTS), predecessor of
the Technology Innovation Agency, was a national strategy focused principally
on improving collaboration amongst industry, academia and science councils.
The aerospace industries and training institutions in particular have been
identified as key thrust areas for achieving economic development through the
AMTS. Furthermore, the AMTS Aerospace Interest Group has been identified
as one of the most important facets of Micro and Nano Manufacturing,
Sensors and Electronics Flagship Program.
The manufacturing of Micro and Nano Electronics and sensors is essential for
South Africa to sustain the technology capability development as seen in
developed countries. For example, there is an urgent need to establish a
Photo Lithography facility for South African industry and training Institutions.
The demand for the new generations of industrial, military, commercial,
medical, automotive and aerospace products in South Africa in particular, and
in the world in general, has fuelled research and development activities
focused on advanced and smart materials. This situation has allowed for the
emergence of a new generation of infrared sensors, the bolometer, based on
an infrared thermal detection mechanism which is particularly suited to
operate at ambient temperature, opening opportunities for achieving low cost
infrared imaging systems for both military and commercial applications.
This work deals with different South African bolometer membranes of the
second prototype in collaboration with the University of Pretoria and Denel
Optronics. The bolometer is an infrared thermal sensor that measures thermal
radiation by converting said radiation into a temperature change and
subsequently measuring the induced change in electrical resistance. The term
infrared from Latin Infra, meaning below, is usually applied to wavelengths
between 700nm and 1mm. It can be argued that the first occurrence of
infrared sensing actually goes back several millennia, when men placed their
hands over recently extinguished fire. However, until Herschel’s experiment,
this kind of infrared was between the sun and the earth.
Thermal imaging, which refers to the ability to measure the temperature of
different points on a scene, requires either an array of infrared detectors
operating in those wavelength ranges or a way to scan a scene using a single
detector.
To realise this work, objectives have been assigned to different groups of the
consortium represented by CPUT, UP and Denel. Analyses of thirteen
bolometer membranes including metal bolometer (Titanium) and Vanadium
oxide were assigned to CPUT, reason why this thesis focuses on the
modelling, designing and testing of the bolometer membranes. Masks design
of the second prototype bolometer test structures includes several thermally
isolated bolometer devices. These devices have been modelled and analysed
in order to study their electrical and thermal behaviour. / Cape Peninsula University of Technology
University of Pretoria
Denel Optronics
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1242 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Senda, Paul Tudieji |
| Publisher | Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/ |
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