Large format thermoelectric infrared detector and method of fabrication
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Accused Products
Abstract
The thermoelectric detector consists of an absorber structure supported by two electrically connected beams made of thermoelectric materials such as polysilicon, polysilicon/germanium, bismuth-telluride, skutterrides, superlattice structures, nano-composites and other materials. One end of the thermoelectric beam connects to the absorber structure; the other end connects to the substrate. Infrared radiation incident on the absorber heats up the absorber, resulting in a temperature gradient along the length of the thermoelectric legs, and generating an electrical voltage. The detector arrays are fabricated using micromachining process. The absorber structure is formed over a sacrificial material that is removed at the end of the processing, leaving the detector suspended and thermally isolated. The sacrificial processing method enables the production of small pixel thermoelectric detectors in large two-dimensional arrays with high sensitivity.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1-18. -18. (canceled)
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19. A thermoelectric detector device comprising:
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a plate structure coupled to at least one thermoelectric structure at a hot junction; and a substrate coupled to the at least one thermoelectric structure at a cold junction; wherein the plate structure is parallel to and offset from the substrate by a first distance, and wherein the at least one thermoelectric structure is adjacent to at least two edges of the plate structure. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A thermoelectric detector array comprising:
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a plurality of thermoelectric structures coupled to a substrate, wherein each thermoelectric structure is coupled to the substrate at a cold junction; and a plurality of plate structures, wherein each plate structure is coupled to at least one thermoelectric structure at a hot junction and is parallel to and offset from the substrate by a distance; wherein each thermoelectric structure comprises two legs that are substantially orthogonal to each other. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of making a thermoelectric detector, the method comprising:
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forming a sacrificial layer on a substrate; forming a plate structure on the sacrificial layer; forming at least one thermoelectric structure on the sacrificial layer; and removing the sacrificial layer; wherein a first end of the at least one thermoelectric structure is coupled to the plate structure and a second end of the at least one thermoelectric structure is coupled to the substrate, wherein the plate structure is parallel to and offset from the substrate by a first distance, and wherein the at least one thermoelectric structure is configured to at least partially encircle a perimeter of the plate structure. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification