Patent ID: 7148481

Claim:
Infrared detection device comprising a matrix of bolometric detectors electrically connected to a reading circuit, in which each of the elementary detectors includes at least two electrically conductive thermal insulation structures, which are insulated from one another and are fitted in contact at one of their ends with an active zone consisting of a sensitive material whose resistivity varies with temperature, in which: one of the structures is electrically connected at its other end to the reading circuit by means of an electrical cold connection that is kept at a substantially constant potential; the other of the structures is electrically connected at its other end to the reading circuit by means of an electrical hot connection and is itself connected in series with a switch integrated into the reading circuit; wherein the matrix contains at least two columns, each column containing at least two bolometric detectors, wherein two adjacent bolometric detectors, which belong to two adjacent columns of the matrix and lie on the same line, are connected by a common electrical connection to the reading circuit by the same electrical cold connection, and wherein the electrical hot connection of each bolometric detector has its own connection to the reading circuit by its own respective switch integrated into the reading circuit.