Back to results
US 7,309,865 B2Granted
Electronic device having infrared sensing elements
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsKimiya Ikushima, Hiroyoshi Komobuchi, Asako Baba
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic device according to the present invention includes: a cavity, which is surrounded with a cavity wall portion and which has a reduced pressure; a gettering thin film, which is arranged in the cavity and has the function of adsorbing a surrounding substance; and an activating portion, at least a part of which is arranged in the cavity and which has the function of activating the gettering thin film by generating heat.
Claims12
An electronic device comprising a substrate and a plurality of infrared sensing elements, which are arranged on the substrate,
- wherein each of the infrared sensing elements includes:
- a cavity wall portion, which is provided on the substrate to form a closed cavity with a reduced pressure;
- a gettering thin film, which is arranged in the closed cavity and has the function of adsorbing a surrounding substance;
- and
- an activating portion, at least a part of which is arranged in the closed cavity and which has the function of activating the gettering thin film by generating heat and the function of sensing a temperature inside the closed cavity, the activating portion being a PN junction diode, and
- wherein the electronic device further includes a control section for detecting degrees of vacuum in respective closed cavities based on the temperatures sensed and for activating the gettering thin film selectively in some or all of the closed cavities based on the degrees of vacuum detected.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.