Apparatus and method for MEMS resonant sensor arrays

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a signal generator configured to generate periodic chirps;

detector circuit;

a MEMS resonant sensor array comprising at least two pixels coupled to the signal generator system and the detector system;

a processing circuit coupled to the detector circuit;

a shutter coupled to the processing circuit, and configured, when activated, to isolate the MEMs resonant sensor array from incident radiation;

wherein the detector circuit is configured to determine a reference resonant frequency for each of at least two pixels when the shutter activated, and at least one non-reference resonant frequency of each of at least two pixels when the shutter is not activated; and

wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine at least one power level of the incident radiation upon each of at least two pixels using a corresponding reference resonant frequency and a corresponding non-reference reason frequency.

2. The apparatus et claim 1 , wherein the detector circuit comprises at least one detector.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit comprises:

a peak detector system configured to determine a resonant frequency of each pixel in in the MEMS resonant sensor array;

an image detection system configured to determine radiation power incident upon each pixel based upon a difference between the determined resonant frequency and a corresponding reference resonant frequency; and

wherein the image detection system comprises at least one of a reference database and a scale factor database.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a counter system coupled to the signal generator.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the shutter comprises an electro-optical shutter.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the periodic chirps linearly increase in frequency during each period.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each pixel comprises:

a resonator; and

an absorber on the resonator.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the absorber is an infrared absorber.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a signal generator configured to generate periodic chirps; a detector system comprising at least one detector, wherein each of the at least one detectors comprises a detector circuit coupled to an analog to digital converter;

a MEMS infrared resonant sensor array comprising M rows and N columns of pixels coupled to the signal generator and the detector system; and

a processing circuit, coupled to the detector system, comprising:

a peak detector system configured to determine a resonant frequency of each pixel in the MEMS infrared resonant sensor array;

an image detection system configured to determine infrared radiation power incident upon each pixel based upon a difference between the determined resonant frequency and a corresponding reference resonant frequency; and

wherein the processing circuit comprises at least one of a reference database and a scale factor database.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a shutter system coupled to the processing circuit.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the shutter system comprises an electro-optical shutter.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a counter coupled to the signal generator.

13. A method, comprising:

calibrating a MEMS resonant sensor array by isolating the MEMs resonant sensor array from incident radiation when a shutter is closed to permit determination of reference resonant frequencies of each pixel in the MEMS resonant sensor array:

transmitting a periodic chirp to at least two pixels of a MEMS resonant sensor array;

determining a resonant frequency of each pixel receiving the periodic chirp;

determining the change in resonant frequency of pixel receiving the periodic chirp; and

determining a power level incident upon each pixel receiving the periodic chirp.

14. The method of claim 13 , where in calibrating comprises generating a reference resonant frequency for each pixel.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the power level comprises determining a difference between the determined resonant frequency and a reference resonant frequency.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating a periodic chirp comprises generating a periodic chirp having a linearly increasing frequency during a period.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the resonant frequency comprises:

identifying a count corresponding to a maximum measured amplitude detected from a pixel; and

converting the count to a resonant frequency of that pixel.