A new fast infrared tracking system with thermopile array implementation

This paper proposes a novel design and implementation of tracking infrared system with a 12x2 CMOS thermopile linear array. Without complicated image processing circuits, the tracking system compares four signal outputs from the linear thermopile array and the location of infrared target is determined very fast and efficiently. A CMOS compatible thermopile array is realized using 1.2 um standard CMOS process and two low offset operational amplifiers (OPA) is included to transfer the analog signals of thermopile output to digital signals. The system incorporated with a Germanium lens is realized and measured with an infrared blackbody carefully and the results are quite accurate and successful.