APPLICATION OF FOURIER OPTICS FOR DETECTING DEFLECTIONS OF INFRARED-SENSING MICROCANTILEVER ARRAYS.

This article presents the theory and experimental results of an optical imaging technique that simultaneously measures the deflections of a focal plane array of bimaterial microcantilevers that are used as thermomechanical infrared sensors. Based on Fourier optics, this technique is used for infrared vision of room-temperature objects with a noise-equivalent temperature difference (NETD) in the range of 2-5 K. Efforts are currently underway to improve the NETD to the range of 30-50 mK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]