We present the results of creating a cooled microbolometer based on the cermet films of the silicon and chromium mixture. This material is used for manufacturing the freely hanging high-resistive microbolometers for the first time. The details of fabricating such microbolometers and the prospects for using cermet films to construct microbolometers are discussed. The first estimates of sensitivity of the fabricated microbolometers are given.

In this paper the results of the investigation of Si-Cr x resistive cermet films, which are promising for the development of broadband microbolometers of the microwave range, are presented. A model of the conductivity of cermet films based on the theory of transport in granular metals and diluted semiconductors is proposed.