Home Search Collections Journals About Contact us My IOPscience

An appraisal of the noise performance of constant temperature bolometric detector systems

This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text.

1990 Meas. Sci. Technol. 1 322

(http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-0233/1/4/002)

View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more

Download details:

IP Address: 128.192.114.19
This content was downloaded on 07/09/2015 at 22:24

Please note that terms and conditions apply.

Meas. Sci. Technol. 1 (1990) 322-328. Printed in the UK

An appraisal of the noise performance of

constant temperature bolometric detector
systems

C D H Williams
Department of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK

Received 10 June 1989, accepted for publication 21 November 1989

Abstract. The noise and bandwidth behaviour of the constant temperature bolometer
detector is analysed with a view to optimising practical systems. It is shown that
careful adjustment of the time constants in this type of detector system is essential
to avoid serious and unnecessary degradation of the attainable performance. It is
concluded that a system with a critically damped response to a heat pulse input is
optimal from the point of view of sensitivity and useful signal bandwidth. The use of
feedback to enhance artificially the bandwidth of a sensor is considered but it is
found that any attempt to compensate for a slow sensor element using this
technique degrades the sensitivity seriously. Finally, some general guidelines for
the design of sensitive detector systems are suggested.

1. Introduction power transferred W, from the detector to its surround-

There are a number of electrothermal instruments which
measure the heat transfer between a temperature-
dependent electrical resistance and its surroundings.
Hot-wire or hot-film anemometers and bolometric radi-
ation detectors are particularly important examples. The
most satisfactory systems, from several points of view,
utilise the CTD (constant temperature detector) principle
first described by Ziegler (1934). This method maintains
the detector at a constant temperature by adjusting an
excitation current which has a dual role: heating the de-
tector and monitoring its resistance. Figure l ( ~ illus-
) ising the system is used in this paper, this means that
trates a simple circuit for use with a positive temperature
coefficient bolometer. This circuit has two stable opera-
ting points: one with the operational amplifier output v E
positive, the other with it negative. The equilibrium at
uE = 0 is metastable and of no further concern because
the amplifier noise will not allow the system to remain
stationary at this point. Under static conditions the net
la) bl
Figure 1. (a) The basic self-balancing CTD circuit
(b) Model CTD including noise equivalent sources no
and n,.
ings equals the electrical power dissipated in the bolo-
meter by Joule heating; this equality makes absolute
measurements of W, relatively straightforward (Engen
1957) and largely eliminates problems caused by detector
instability and nonlinearity. Unfortunately the dynamic
behaviour of this kind of system is rather complicated to
describe and in published treatments Sherlock and Wyatt
(1983a, b) and Sherlock (1984), referred to hereafter as
sw, show that it is necessary to linearise the system by
considering small deviations of the output signal about
one of the equilibrium points. Their method for linear-
the values of some of the parameters used to describe the
small signal response depend on the DC conditions in the
circuit.
The noise performance of these CTD systems is exam-
ined in the following sections. The discussion applies to
a detector of positive temperature coefficients of resist-
ance a, as is usually the case with metallic sensors. How-
ever, the conclusions are applicable to negative
temperature coefficient detectors if the circuits given in
figure 1 are modified to preserve their self-balancing
property when this type of device is used. In section 2
the linear system model of sw is described and extended
to include the effects of noise generated by the amplifier
and passive components of the bridge. Section 3 pro-
poses a definition of sensitivity that is a combination of
the frequency response, noise level and responsibility of
a CTD system. The performance of several different CTD
systems is analysed in sections 4-6. Finally, in section 7
the results are summarised and some general guidelines
for system design are suggested.

0957-0233/90/040322+ 07 $03.50@1990 IOP Publishing Ltd


1.1. Notation
Time-dependent quantities are denoted by lower case
symbols, static quantities have upper case symbols.
Upper case and lower case subscripts indicate the quies-
cent working point value and small signal component
respectively. For example, the detector resistance rD is
given by rD(t)= R D + rd(t). Lower case symbols are also
used to represent the Laplace transform of the time-
dependent quantities, for example rd(S) = y { r d ( t ) ) . To
simplify notation the domain variables s and tare written
explicitly only when their omission might be confusing.
The analysis outlined in this paper is of the circuit
given in figure l(b) which includes noise equivalent
sources no, n , and a facility to apply an external electrical
stimulus or bias U,. The dynamic response of the circuit
given in figure l(b) in the absence of noise (i.e., no, n , = 0)
has been described in some detail by sw. Their notation,
with a few minor changes, has been used throughout this
paper. This is intended to make cross-reference between
the papers of sw and this work as simple as possible and
avoids unnecessary duplication of previously published
material.
2. Linear system model
An exact model of the CTD dynamics is precluded by the
non-linear nature of the system. An analytic treatment
must therefore be confined to a description of the effect
of small changes w h in the input power on the output
voltage zjE which will experience a perturbation v, about
its quiescent value VE. The linearised system model of
the circuit given in figure l(b) will be described in this
section starting with the CTD in static equilibrium.
2.1. Static equilibrium
At equilibrium a bias current I D flows in the detector
elevating its temperature gDand causing a net heat loss
to the surroundings ZARD. The amplifier, assumed to
have negligible offset errors and a large input impedance,
has an open loop DC gain GA so that the output is given
by
and at equilibrium
2.2. Electrothermal bolometer model
Assume, as is the case with a cryogenic bolometer film
supported on a non-diffusive single crystal substrate
(Wyatt et al 1982) and hot-wire anemometers (Bellhouse
and Schultz 1967), that the bolometer temperature 9, is
related to its thermal capacity C t h , the heat loss to its
Noise in bolometer systems
surroundings wH and Joule heating by
(3)
It follows (refer to Sherlock and Wyatt (1983b) for details)
that the small signal response of the bolometer tempera-
ture is given by
where wth, the thermal response frequency is given by
The 'intrinsic' contribution wi is determined by the ther-
mal conductance cibetween the surroundings and the
bolometer and its thermal capacity
0 i = ci/Cth. (6)
The Joule contribution w j is a parameter reflecting the
effects a change in detector resistance has on the electrical
power dissipated in the bolometer by a current
where the bolometer temperature coefficient of resistance
is X = drD/d$D.
2.3. Noise sources and bias vB
Each component in the circuit contributes noise to the
system; but if stray capacitance is ignored, a step vindi-
cated in section 3, then the individual sources can be
lumped together and their combined effect reproduced
by the two noise equivalent electromotive forces no and
n , shown in figure l(b). Here n, represents the amplifier
input noise and the thermal noise of R , and R 2 , no is the
noise due to the bolometer and Ro. It is sometimes useful
to be able to apply an external electrical signal, vB in
figure l(b), to the system. This can be a DC bias V, to
adjust the bolometer operating point or a small pulse ub
to check the dynamic response.
2.4. Signal transfer function
Bearing the above points in mind the block diagram
shown in figure 2 has been constructed to represent the
small signal behaviour of the circuit given in figure lib).
It is a routine matter (Anand 1974) to deduce from this
the three transfer functions of interest. These relate the
output U, to the thermal input wh, electrical input v h + no
and noise n l .
323
C D H Williams

h'

"b

Figure 2. Block diagram of the linearised CTD model.

mining the frequency response needed to keep the output

error within acceptable limits; provided the input signal
contains only frequency components less than o,the out-
where put signal will satisfactorily represent the input to the
system. Equation (1 1) is not the only possible definition
of osbut the particular form chosen does have the follow-
ing useful properties.
It is easy to calculate osfrom the definition.
oschanges smoothly and in an intuitively reason-
able manner as the CTD response is varied from under-
damped to overdamped.
0 If the system has a single, or dominant, pole at jo,
then os= 0,.
If the system has a second-order pole at jo, then
W , = 0.403 0,.
Figure 3(a) shows the frequency response of three typical
(9a-e) systems; underdamped, overdamped and critically
damped, with the value of cos indicated by an arrow in
and the amplifier is assumed to have a single pole at coo each case.
(i.e. a - 6 dB/octave roll of above coo).

I I I I I I
Id
3. System responsivity and sensitivity

The responsivity of the CTD is the ratio of the output

signal U, to input signal w h at low frequencies; it is con-
veniently given by Hth(0) and, being the ratio of a poten-
tial difference and a power, has the dimensions of inverse
current [A-']. In subsequent sections systems which
have differing bandwidth, responsivity and noise levels
are to be compared. In order to make the comparison
quantitative these specifications are combined to define lo-' 5 1 5
WlW,
a sensitivity S which is the product of the useful signal
bandwidth w, and the square of the DC responsivity
IHth(o)(' divided by the mean square noise measured at
the output.
0 s lHth(O)I2
S=
:sn 8 4 Pel(-jw)lz + n:(4 IH, ( -jo)12d o
(10)

where j = and ng(co), n:(o) are the mean square

voltage spectral densities of noise sources no and n, . The
definition of the useful signal bandwidth U),is slightly
unconventional: it is the largest value that satisfies the 5 lo-' 5 1 5
WlW,
condition
Figure 3. (a) Spectra of the thermal response
1 20 log(vJ,lw,) dB of the equal arm CTD for various values
IHth(0)-Hth(-jo)I <-Hth(O) CO, 0 9 1 . (11)
4 of 6, the useful signal bandwidth w, is indicated in each
case. ( b ) Corresponding noise spectra, 0 dB E 4 3 a f / a P / ; ,
This definition is, roughly speaking, a method of deter- with no= 0.

324
 Noise in bolometer systems

So far the treatment has been quite general but now
it is necessary to simplify matters slightly to let us draw
some useful conclusions without needing to present an
unreasonable number of graphs and tables. To start with,
stray capacitance shunting the resistive elements of the
bridge, as mentioned in section 2.3, is to be ignored. This
is possible not only because the resistors comprising the
bridge are usually of low value, but also because careful
layout can ensure that stray capacitances affect each arm
of the bridge equally and thus cancel each other. Lead
capacitance arising fom a remotely positioned detector
can be dealt with by a capacitor in parallel with Ro. A
typical low-noise operational amplifier used in a CTD
circuit might have an input noise of about 3 nV Hz-'l2
-corresponding to a noise equivalent resistance RG of
about 500 SZ at room temperature. The relevant transfer
functions H e , and H , are of similar size and behaviour
so if RD 11 Ro (the value of RD and Ro in parallel) is signi-
+
ficantly smaller than RG ( R , 11 R2), as can usually be
arranged, then the noise in the system is dominated by
n,. It will also be assumed that n, is a white, Gaussian
noise source; above the l/f-noise corner, about 100 Hz
for typical devices, this-is a good approximation to the
behaviour of most operational amplifiers. Given a suit-
ably constructed bolometer, the form of CTD described
in this paper is expected to have an upper frequency
limit in the range 10-100 MHz imposed by the amplifier
performance. These approximations greatly simplify the
expression for S which becomes
equation has coincident roots, that is when b2 = 4c which
means that a. = o z / 2 G A a j . The effects of different
damping levels are illustrated by using a parameter
6 = 2 G A o o o j / o z so a system having 6 = 1 is critically
damped. Figure 3(u) comprises the frequency response
curves of representative cases, the corresponding noise
spectra are given in figure 3(b). The crucial importance
of the correct adjustment of w o is illustrated by figure 4.
If 6 < 1 (overdamped) changing 6 affects the signal band-
width and total noise power equally and the sensitivity
of the system remains almost constant. However, when
6 > 1 (underdamped) the rise in the signal bandwidth
caused by increasing 6 is insufficient to compensate for
the increased noise and, as can be seen from figure 4(c),
the sensitivity falls dramatically. This result explains one
of the rather surprising aspects of CTD system behaviour
encountered in practice-when the operational amplifier
is replaced by a higher quality device (higher gain-
bandwidth product) the sensitivity can actually decrease.
If the widest possible bandwidth that can be obtained
without a significant reduction in sensitivity is desired,
then the critically damped 6 = 1 system must be selected.
30
20
-
53
a 10
L"
z

-1 0

and it is this definition of sensitivity which will be used

to assess the performance of some model systems in the
following sections. In SI [rad s - l W-'] are the units of 10
S and the formula 10 log(S/S,) dB, where So is the dB 1 I I I I 1 I I I 1
reference level, can be used to express its value in decibels. 100
There are two additional points worth making about rs
\

the CTD sensitivity: firstly, S is closely related to what is z

0 10
conventionally known as the CTD resolution ( o , / S ) ~ ' ~ ;
secondly, the value and types of resistors used in the
bridge should be selected so that they contribute negli- 0 01
gibly to the amplifier input noise.

4. Symmetric bridge; zero offset 0

-m
The first system to consider has R 1 = R 2 with VB = 0 -10
and GA b 1, so R, = Ro and the values for the system c-
%
parameters of interest are:
5 -20
- 30
6

Figure 4. Noise power (a), useful signal bandwidth ( b ) and

This system is critically damped when the characteristic sensitivity (c) of the equal arm CTD as a function of 6.

325
C D H Williams

5. Asymmetric bridge; zero offset better than this. A virtual earth current detector elimi-
nates the effects of shunt capacitance by keeping the poten-
Having chosen a critically damped system on the basis tial difference across it constant and zero (Hamilton
that it offers the best overall performance it is tempting 1977). In an analogous fashion electrothermal feedback
to wonder whether the CTD can be further improved by can be used to nullify the heat capacity of a bolometer
modifying the circuit in some way. Perhaps the simplest and enhance the frequency response. An amplifier of gain
potentially beneficial change is altering the bridge ratio bandwidth product GAwocan be used to attain an over-
so that R I # R 2 . It is convenient to define all useful signal bandwidth of - ( G A ~ o ~ j ) 1 /Sherlock
2.
(1984) gives the details but the principles can be under-
stood more easily from Bode diagrams like those given
in figure 5 which demonstrate how the first-order pole in
and since GA $ 1 and V, = 0 the detector response can be cancelled by an amplifier
with its frequency response appropriately tailored by
wth=wi+(1 - 2 p ) o j ul = GAwOWjp/lD feedback.
b= C = G ~ O o W j 2 p (-
l p) (16~-d) The expressions given earlier (equations (9d, e)) for
the coefficients b and c of the characteristic equation
remembering that the system is critically damped so b2 = suggest that a considerable enhancement of the system
4c and bandwidth is possible when p > q . Inspection of
b equation ( 2 ) reveals that for static equilibrium to be at-
w, = 0.403 - = 0.201 0 t h (17) tained in the absence of offsets q must be slightly larger
2
than p but application of a DC bias VB to the bolometer
a little manipulation of the equations gives an expression network can reduce the value of and achieve the condi-
for the sensitivity tion p > y. The usable values of y are constrained be-
0.41Op2wf cause a stable system must have 0 t h > 0, this requirement
s=-0.201 32 p2w2
- ___ - ’ (18) is always met if 0 < q < 0.5. Bearing all this in mind the
Ikn? (5n) - I;z[wi + (1 - 2p)wj]2 expressions for the parameters of the bandwidth en-
The value of p that maximises the sensitivity depends on hanced CTD system are
the relative values of mi and wj. If cui > w j then p must
be as large as possible-that is unity. In the case when
wth = mi + (1 - 2y)wj = GAWOwjq/lD

wi < w j the maximum value that p can take is con- = + Oth) + GAoO(p - q )
+
strained by the need to keep wi (1 - 2p)oj positive.
c=oo@th(l + ( p - y ) ) + 2 G ~ W o w j ~- V( )l (19~-d)
However, a large value of w j is also desirable and inspec-
tion of equations (16) and (17) reveals that any value of the condition for critical damping becomes
p greater than 0.5 not only compromises the signal band-
[(Oth - O O ) - GAwO(p - q)12 = 8GAwoojq(l - q ) (20)
width but, in more serious cases when oj > mi, can also
result in instability as 0 t h becomes negative. An impor-
tant feature of the CTD is its ability to give an absolute
value for changes in the net heat loss from the sensor
element. Systems with p = 0.5 (Sherlock 1984) offer the 1

best performance from this point of view because in this

case errors introduced by offsets in the circuit (e.g. VB # 0
or a non-ideal operational amplifier) cancel to first order.
\-Open-loop gain
It must also be borne in mind that the higher the value 40
of p the lower the gain of the first stage of amplification
and the more significant will be the influence of noise
from subsequent stages on the overall system per-
-m 20
D
formance. c
In summary, p = 0.5 is a good choice for a general B o
purpose wide bandwidth system although when condi-
tions dictate that a sensor with a relatively low value of -20
w j must be used a significantly higher sensitivity can be
achieved by using values in the range 0.5 < p < 1 but at -40
some penalty as far as the bandwidth, absolute cali-
bration and perhaps stability are concerned.
Frequency

Figure 5. Bode diagrams illustrating how the frequency

6. Enhanced bandwidth systems response of a sensor (curve A) can be enhanced by using
an amplifier whose open loop gain has been
The systems discussed so far have all had useful signal appropriately tailored by feedback (curve B). Curve C is
bandwidths of about 0.204 but it is possible to do rather the resultant system frequency reponse.

326
 Noise in bolometer systems

so the signal bandwidth is given by the same but w, is increased to 20,. With the circuits
adjusted to keep q = 0.5 in each case, the sensitivity drops
U, = 0.201 [20,, f 2J2GAwOwju(1 - y)] (21) by 13 dB. Taking into account the change in bandwidth
and the sensitivity this means that increasing the bandwidth by this amount
reduces the signal to noise ratio by 23 dB.

7. Conclusions

The sensitivity of all the systems considered benefit from

having the ratio ~ ~ ~ I iasj large ~ f asq possible. This
It is straightforward to show that the sensitivity is means using a low-noise amplifier and low-noise bridge
maximised for a given value of p when q is as large as resistors together with a sensor which has a high-differ-
possible but the reasons for avoiding values of y > 0.5
entia1 temperature coefficient of resistance, running at the
given at the end of the last section are still valid. The
highest current and temperature that can be tolerated.
highest sensitivity is attained for a particular value of Although the sensitivity does not directly depend on the
when y = p. bolometer heat capacity c , h this must be kept small
If one is prepared to spend enough time juggling the
enough to avoid having to use the bandwidth enhance-
values of p, G A w O and DC bias it is possible to select a
ment technique described in section 6. Bandwidth en-
value for q and arrange for the CTD to operate with any
hancement involves applying a DC offset to the bridge
desired signal bandwidth. As discussed earlier, values of
and although it extends the thermal frequency response,
q > 0.5 can have quite serious drawbacks and so the per- the system sensitivity is seriously degraded. For this
formance of this y = 0.5 system, shown graphically in
reason it is most important to ensure that any amplifier
figure 6, is the best that can be achieved for most pur-
offset errors are adequately nullified. It has been shown
poses. In practice it is much easier to select R , = R , so
that if the sensitivity and signal bandwidth are to be
that p = 0.5 and then adjust the value of y using the DC
optimised, the system must be adjusted to give a critically
bias V, until critical damping is achieved. The sensitivi- damped response to a heat pulse input. This is probably
ties of CTD systems adjusted in this fashion are also
most easily achieved by examining the output noise with
shown in figure 6: the precise behaviour when O,5 l o w j
a spectrum analyser while adjusting the amplifier com-
depends on the ratio wjjwi and curves for three different
pensation frequency. The equal arm bridge arrangement
values of this ratio are given as representative examples.
described in section4 is proposed as the best general
The dotted parts of the curves indicate an operating re-
purpose design, although in some cases higher sensitivi-
gime best avoided; here the responsivity has been ser-
ties can be achieved using the asymmetric bridge, which
-
iously reduced by the low values of y needed to achieve
critical damping when w, 0.40,. Notice that the sensi-
tivity versus signal bandwidth curve becomes universal
has its own disadvantages, described in section 5.
Finally, it has to be stressed that there is no single
optimal design for a CTD, the best system depends on
when w,2 l o o j .
the bandwidth demanded by the specific application, the
The implications of figure 6 are really quite serious
bolometer construction and the maximum bias current
-there is a high price, in the form of noise, to be paid for
IDthat can be tolerated.
enhancing the bandwidth of a CTD by means of electrical
feedback. For the sake of being definite, consider a sys-
tem with w , = 0.204 which is to be modified so that I , is Acknowledgments

I I , 1 I
The author is grateful to M G Brown, G M Wyborn
and Professor A F G Wyatt for commenting on the draft
manuscript.

References

Anand D K 1974 Introduction to Control Systems (Oxford:

Pergamon)
Bellhouse B J and Schultz D L 1967 The determination of
fluctuating velocity in air with heated thin film gauges
J . Fluid Mech. 29 289-95
I 1 , , , 1 I Comte-Bellot G 1976 Hot-wire anemometry Ann. Reu. Fluid
S I 5 10 5
WJWI
Mech. 8 209-31
Engen G F 1957 A self-balancing direct current bridge for
Figure 6. Sensitivity of enhanced bandwidth CTD systems accurate bolometric power measurements N B S J . Res. 59
in various cases discussed in the text. The upper curve is 101-5
the performance limit of a system adjusted so that q = 0.5. Hamilton T D S 1977 Handbook of Linear Integrated
The lower curves are for the p = 0.5 system with values of Electronics for Research (London: McGraw-Hill)
w , = O . l , 1, l o w , . pp 183-8

327
C D H Williams

Sherlock R A 1984 Frequency response optimisation of the
constant temperature detector system-a detailed root-
locus analysis. J . Phys. E: Sci. Instrum. 17 386-93
Sherlock R A and Wyatt A F G 1983a The effect of self-
heating on the dynamical response of bolometric
detectors J . Phys. E: Sci. Instrum. 16 669-72
Sherlock R A and Wyatt A F G 1983b The dynamics of the
constant temperature detector system J . Phys. E: Sci.
Instrum. 16 673-82
Wyatt A F G, Sherlock R A and Allum D R 1982 The
temperature of phonon pulses injected into liquid 4He
J . Phys. C: Solid State Phys. 15 1897-915
Ziegler M 1934 The construction of a hot-wire anemometer
with linear scale and negligible lag Proc. Koninlijke
Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 15 ( 1 )

328