Patent ID: 7005644

Claim:
A thermal infrared detector comprising: a substrate; a temperature sensor having electrical characteristics that change in response to a temperature change caused by absorption of infrared rays; heat-insulating supporting legs supporting and thermally insulating said temperature sensor and including signal lines for reading out electrical signals from said temperature sensor; and an infrared absorption layer in thermal contact with said temperature sensor, wherein said temperature sensor and said infrared absorption layer overlap said heat-insulating supporting legs when viewed along a direction of infrared rays incident on said infrared absorption layer, and each of said temperature sensor, said heat-insulating supporting legs, and said infrared absorption layer is located in a respective, different plane, and the planes are spatially separated from each other so that respective first and second cavities are located between said temperature sensor and said heat-insulating supporting legs and between said heat-insulating supporting legs and said infrared absorption layer.