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Uncooled microbolometer arrays incorporating vertically aligned carbon nanotube absorbers are increasingly being adopted in satellite instrumentation for monitoring the Earth’s radiation budget. A key requirement for such microbolometers is a thermistor having high-temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), low 1/f noise while surviving high-temperature carbon nanotube growth at 800 °C. In the present work, Pt thin-film thermistors are fabricated on SiN_x/SiO₂/Si substrates using DC magnetron sputtering. To achieve enhanced adhesion of the Pt thin film, an interlayer of AlO_x is deposited on the substrate via reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering. To maximize the positive TCR, the Pt/AlO_x is subjected to different annealing conditions by varying temperature, time, and gaseous environment. With an increase in the annealing temperature and duration, Pt/AlO_x thin film exhibits an improvement in TCR …