The partnership between RVS, Seek Thermal and Freescale Semiconductor continues on the path to bring the latest technology and innovation to both military and commercial customers. The partnership has matured the 17μm pixel for volume production on the Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS) program in efforts to bring advanced production capability to produce a low cost, high performance product. The partnership has developed the 12μm pixel and has demonstrated performance across a family of detector sizes ranging from formats as small as 206 x 156 to full high definition formats. Detector pixel sensitivities have been achieved using the RVS double level advanced pixel structure. Transition of the packaging of microbolometers from a traditional die level package to a wafer level package (WLP) in a high volume commercial environment is complete. Innovations in wafer fabrication techniques have been incorporated into this product line to assist in the high yield required for volume production. The WLP seal yield is currently > 95%. Simulated package vacuum lives >> 20 years have been demonstrated through accelerated life testing where the package has been shown to have no degradation after 2,500 hours at 150°C. Additionally the rugged assembly has shown no degradation after mechanical shock and vibration and thermal shock testing. The transition to production effort was successfully completed in 2014 and the WLP design has been integrated into multiple new production products including the TWS and the innovative Seek Thermal commercial product that interfaces directly to an iPhone or android device.

At the 2010 meeting of the Defense and Security Symposia Raytheon reported on the status of their efforts to establish a high rate uncooled detector manufacturing capability. At that time we had just finished the transition of the 640 x 480, 25 mu m product to our 200 mm wafer fab line at Freescale semiconductor and established an automated packaging and test capability.Over the past year we have continued to build on that foundation. In this paper we will report on this year's progress in completing the transition of our 25 mu m product line to Freescale semiconductor. Included will be the 320 x 240 product transition and a summary of SPC and defectivity data from one year's production.Looking beyond 25 mu m, we are well along in our transition of the 17 mu m product line to Freescale, with test results being available for the 640 x 480. Additionally, we will report on progress / status of the Tailwind program, which is developing a 2048 x 1536, 17 mu m uncooled sensor. Data to be reported includes the establishment of subfield stitching at a high rate commercial fab and the development of the detector package and electronics.With 17 mu m transitioned to production, Raytheon has started work on the HD LWIR program, which is laying the foundation for the next generation of uncooled detectors by further shrinking the pixel to <17 mu m. With the HD LWIR program just beginning, we will review our development strategy and program plan.

Over the past two years Raytheon has made a major investment aimed at establishing a high volume uncooled manufacturing capability. This effort has addressed three elements of the uncooled value stream, namely bolometer fabrication, packaging and calibration/test.To facilitate a low cost / high volume source of bolometers Raytheon has formed a partnership with a high volume 200mm commercial silicon wafer fabrication. Over a 12 month period Raytheon has installed 200mm VOx deposition equipment, matched the metrology used on the Raytheon 150mm line, transferred the process flow used to fabricate Raytheon's double layer bolometer process and qualified the product. In this paper we will review the process transfer methodology and bolometer performance.To reduce bolometer packaging cost and increase production rates, Raytheon has implemented an automated packaging line. This line utilizes automated adhesive dispense, component pick and place, wire bonding and solder seal. In this paper we will review the process flow, qualification process and line capacityCalibration and test has traditionally been performed using a number of temperature chambers, with increased throughput being obtained by adding more chambers. This comes at the expense of increased test labor required to feed the chambers and an increased energy and floor space foot print. To avoid these collateral costs, Raytheon has implemented an automated robotic calibration cell capable of performing in excess of 5,000 calibrations a month. In this paper we will provide an overview of the calibration cell along with takt time and throughput data.