Micromechanical thermal sensor
First Claim
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1. A sensor for detecting radiation comprising:
- a substrate;
a micro antenna positioned on a membrane, the membrane stretched over a hole etched into said substrate;
a microstructure formed on and suspended apart from said substrate;
a means for coupling energy received by said micro antenna into said microstructure;
a first thermocouple positioned on said microstructure adapted to detect temperature change and generate a temperature change signal in response thereto; and
read out electronics coupled to receive said temperature change signal.
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Abstract
A radiation sensor that can operate in the THz regime comprising: a micro antenna, which may comprise a two-dimensional patterned thin-film metallizations on a thin dielectric pellicle fabricated by micro machining of a silicon wafer; a thermally isolated microstructure; a coupling mechanism for coupling the energy from the micro antenna to the microstructure, the coupling mechanism providing high thermal isolation between the micro antenna and the microstructure; a temperature signal detector on the microstructure; and signal processing electronics for receiving the temperature signal and processing it into useful data.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sensor for detecting radiation comprising:
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a substrate; a micro antenna positioned on a membrane, the membrane stretched over a hole etched into said substrate; a microstructure formed on and suspended apart from said substrate; a means for coupling energy received by said micro antenna into said microstructure; a first thermocouple positioned on said microstructure adapted to detect temperature change and generate a temperature change signal in response thereto; and read out electronics coupled to receive said temperature change signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An integrated circuit comprising a sensor for detecting radiation, said integrated circuit comprising:
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a substrate; a micro antenna positioned on a membrane, the membrane stretched over an opening etched into said substrate; a microstructure formed on and suspended apart from said substrate; a means for coupling energy received by said micro antenna into said microstructure; a thermocouple positioned on said microstructure adapted to detect temperature change and generate a temperature change signal in response thereto; and electrical contacts coupled to receive said temperature change signal.
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20. A sensor for detecting radiation comprising:
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a substrate; a micro antenna positioned on a membrane, the membrane stretched over a hole etched into said substrate; a microstructure formed on and suspended apart from said substrate; a contact pad for coupling energy received by said micro antenna into said microstructure; a thermocouple positioned on said microstructure adapted to detect temperature change and generate a temperature change signal in response thereto; and read out electronics coupled to receive said temperature change signal.
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Specification