Dual-Function Microelectronic Sensors

Integrated-circuit image sensors of a proposed type would be capable of operation in either the wavelength band of 0.5 to 2.5 *m, the wavelength band of 2.8 to 5.8 *m, or both bands simultaneously. Called "dual function, thermal optical image sensors" (DTOISs), these sensors could be useful in a variety of scientific, industrial, and medical applications in which there are needs for visible and infrared imaging -- typically, for noncontact measurements of temperature distributions. In medicine, for example, such measurements could provide early indications of developing tumors.