Thermal simulation and design optimization of a thermopile infrared detector with an SU-8 membrane

Simulation and optimization tools are commonly used in the design phase of advanced electronics devices. In this work, we present a thermal simulation and design optimization tool for infrared thermopile detectors based on a closed membrane structure. The tool can be used to simulate and optimize thermopile detectors with an arbitrary number of design parameters. The optimization utilizes the Nelder-Mead and the adaptive simulated annealing optimization algorithms to maximize the system performance. A thermopile detector with an SU-8-based closed membrane and metal-metal thermocouples has been simulated and optimized. Based on the results generated by the tool, an optimized detector has been fabricated and characterized. The results from the measurements presented are in good agreement with the simulation results.