Uncooled far infrared thermal imaging system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention is an uncooled system for converting a far-infrared image to a visible image or near-infrared image.
The system includes a transducer onto one side of which a far-infrared image is directed, and which provides either a visible image or a near-infrared image on the opposite side.
The transducer includes a planar array of far-infrared absorbing islands on a thin-film support.
The film is supported by a perforated plate, with the perforations centered on the islands.
There is, on the opposite side of the plate from the film, a perforated shield in registration with the islands, and a partially-reflective sheet.
The spacing between the sheet and the islands is such that far-infrared absorption in the islands is enhanced.
The sheet is supported by a relatively thick and (visible light or near-infrared) transparent substrate.
The bottoms of the islands on the film and the partially-reflective sheet together form a Fabry-Perot cavity for visible or near-infrared radiation directed through the substrate, whereby an image may be viewed or detected.
An alternate embodiment of the invention additionally includes thin conductors connected to the islands and to one pole of a voltage source, with the other pole of the source connected to either (or both) the shield or the partially-reflective sheet.
This voltage induces a force to bias the islands toward the substrate.