Panasonic Develops the World's first Sensitivity Improvement Technology for Far Infrared Sensors with a Phononic Crystal Structure

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation has developed a manufacturable technology to drastically improve the device performance fabricated on silicon (Si) wafers by leveraging the unique feature of a phononic crystal structure*2, which can break the classical limitation of heat insulation property of solids*3. By introducing this technology to a thermal-type far infrared sensor, heat loss from the infrared-receiving section was reduced approximately to 1/10 of the initial sensor without the phononic crystal structure. As a result, infrared detection sensitivity was improved nearly by a factor of 10 in the sensors with phononic crystals.