Sensor device with improved sensitivity to temperature variation in a semiconductor substrate
AssigneeAnalog Devices, Inc.
InventorLuke Alexander Pillans
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Abstract
A sensor device formed on a semiconductor substrate. The device comprises a thermal radiation sensor including a sensing cell and a referencing cell which are co-operable for providing a first output signal indicative of the temperature fluctuation resulting from incident radiation. A gradient sensor including a pair of cells spatially located on the semiconductor substrate is provided which are co-operable to provide a second output signal indicative of the temperature gradient across the semiconductor substrate for facilitating calibrating the first output signal. At least one of the cells of the gradient sensor is not common to the cells of the thermal radiation sensor.
Claims21
A sensor device formed on a semiconductor substrate, the device comprising:
- a thermal radiation sensor including a sensing cell and a referencing cell spatially separated from one another on the semiconductor substrate, the reference cell and sensing cell being co-operable for providing a first output signal indicative of temperature fluctuations resulting from incident radiation,
- a gradient sensor including a pair of cells spatially separated from one another on the semiconductor substrate, the pair of cells being co-operable to provide a second output signal indicative of the temperature gradient across the semiconductor substrate, and
- wherein the second output signal is operably combined with the first output signal to effect a calibration of the first output signal.
A sensor device formed on a semiconductor substrate, the device comprising:
- a thermal radiation sensor including a sensing cell and a referencing cell being co-operable for providing a first output signal indicative of temperature fluctuation resulting from incident radiation, and
- a gradient sensor including a pair of cells spatially separated from one another on the semiconductor substrate, the pair of cells being co-operable to provide a second output signal indicative of the temperature gradient across the semiconductor substrate for facilitating calibrating the first output signal, and
- a calibration module operable to read the first and second output signals for calibrating the first output signal using the second output signal.
A method of calibrating a sensor device including a thermal sensor and a gradient sensor formed on a semiconductor substrate, the method comprises the steps of:
- a. obtaining a first output signal indicative of the temperature fluctuation resulting from an incident radiation from the thermal radiation sensor,
- b. obtaining a second output signal indicative of temperature gradient across the substrate from the second thermal radiation sensor,
- c. calibrating the first output signal with the second output signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.