Thermo-optical arrays of flexible nanoscale nanomembranes freely suspended over microfabricated cavities as IR microimagers

Preparation of thermo-optical arrays of flexible nanoscale nanomembranes freely suspended over microfabricated cavities as IR microimager was investigated. The micromechanical behavior of membranes freely suspended over openings with different diameters was studied. The nanomembrane deflection versus temperature was measured using optical interferometry to quantify the thermal deflection behavior of the freely suspended nanomembranes and confirm the deformational mode. A photothermal phenomenon was observed, which was demonstrated to be scaled up to a large array of microscopic cavities, thus creating an efficient microscopic thermal imaging array operating at room temperature. A buckling instability phenomena was also observed, which facilitated a fast optical response to minute temperature variations.